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THE  SMILE 

IF  YOU  CAN  DO  NOTHING  ELSE 
YOU   CAN   SMILE 


BY 

S.  S.  CURRY 


Smile  awhile, 

And  while  you  smile, 

Another  smiles, 

And  soon  there's  miles 

And  miles  of  smiles, 

And  life's  worth  while 

Because  you  smile. 

Author  not  known  to  me. 


SCHOOL    OF    EXPRESSION 

Book  Department,  Copley  Square 
BOSTON 


C1 


Copyright 

by 

S.  S.  CURRY 
1915 


*  s 


To  Those  Who 
By  Loyal  Thought,  Word  or  Deed 

Have  Founded 
The  School  of  Expression. 


One  lifted  a  stone  from  my  rocky  road,     * 
One  carried  awhile  my  heavy  load, 
One  lifted  his  candle  when  all  was  dark, 
One  heard  the  song  of  the  morning  lark; 
A  look,  and  I  knew  a  brother  was  near, 
Only  a  smile,  but  it  banished  my  fear. 
Ah !  little  you  thought  of  the  help  you  gave 
But  the  little  you  did  was  mighty  to  save! 


Also  to  Those  Who 
By  Look,  Smile  or — in  any  Way 

Will  Aid 
In  Giving  to  the  School  a  Permanent  Home. 


rt  ?  ft  O 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Foreword       ;....; 5 

I.  Our  First  Expression 9 

II.  Qualities  of  Expression 24 

III.  The  Expressive  Process 32 

IV.  Smile  or  Scowl 35 

V.  Smile  or  Frown 40 

VI.  Sign  or  Symbol 47 

VII.  Man's  Elemental  Languages 50 

VIII.  Does  a  Smile  Represent  or  Manifest?     ...  57 

IX.  Gesture,  Position  or  Bearing 62 

X.  The  Smile  and  Beauty       . 72 

XL  Can  the  Smile  Be  Developed? 77 

XII.  Modes  of  Improving  the  Smile 90 

XIII.  The  Smile  as  an  Educational  Aid       ....  107 

XIV.  Negative  or  Positive? 115 

XV.  The  Smile  and  Health 118 

XVI.  Ethics  of  Amusement 122 

XVII.  The  Smile  and  Success 135 

XVIII.  Higher  Functions  and  Influences       ....  138 

A  Personal  Afterword    ,  146 


FOREWORD 

Most  people,  even  orators  and  actors,  have 
peculiar  conceptions,  not  to  say  misconceptions, 
of  action  as  a  language. 

One  proof  of  this  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
word  "  gesture,"  which  names  the  least  important 
of  all  phases  of  action,  is  the  common  name  ap- 
plied by  most  people  to  all  the  expressive  move- 
ments, attitudes  and  bearings  of  the  body. 

The  ordinary  person  has  about  as  clear  an  im- 
pression of  what  pantomimic  expression  means 
as  the  little  girl  who  was  asked  to  define  the  word 
"  chivalry  "  and  said  it  was  what  she  felt  when 
she  was  cold. 

To  me  action  is  man's  first  language  and  the 
one  primarily  concerned  in  the  revelation  of 
character.  Action,  however,  is  a  subject  as  diffi- 
cult to  discuss  as  it  is  to  understand.  It  can 
never  be  explained  and  taught  as  other  subjects. 

John  Stuart  Mill  said  that  one  who  knows  but 
a  single  language  is  apt  to  take  words  for  things. 
This  principle  applies  more  to  the  primary  modes 
of  man's  expression,  words,  tones  and  action  as 
different  languages,  than  to  Italian  and  French. 
If  to  think  an  idea  in  French  as  well  as  English 
frees  a  man  from  confusing  an  idea  with  its  sym- 
bol and  gives  him  a  better  understanding  of  truth, 
how  much  more  will  ability  to  realize  the  func- 
tion of  voice  modulations  and  of  the  action  of  the 
body  lead  to  a  more  adequate  realization?  Action 
as  a  language  is  more  distinct  in  function  and 


•eF"  <:FORE  WORD 


meaning  from  words  than  English  is  from  French, 
or  French  is  from  German.  To  be  able  to  think 
the  language  of  action  prevents  taking  a  mere 
word  or  symbol  of  an  idea  as  a  complete  expres- 
sion. If  this  be  true,  to  understand  pantomime 
is  one  of  the  important  phases  of  education.  Ac- 
tion, however,  is  totally  neglected  at  the  present 
time.  One  reason  for  this  neglect  is  the  difficulty 
of  understanding  the  subject  or  of  even  realizing 
its  point  of  view.  It  has  been  so  long  regarded 
as  of  no  importance,  as  only  a  kind  of  decorative 
adjunct  without  meaning,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
awaken  people  to  think  in  action,  or  to  recognize 
it  as  having  a  great  function  in  the  revelation  of 
human  experience. 

A  realization  of  our  action  is  necessarily  a 
realization  of  the  motives  of  our  lives.  It  helps  us 
to  understand  our  fellow-men  and  to  enter  into 
sympathetic  touch  with  them.  Not  without  reason 
does  action  usually  have  dramatic  as  the  qualify- 
ing adjective. 

In  this  little  book  I  have  endeavored  to  talk 
simply  with  the  reader  on  something  that  has 
always  been  a  necessary  part  of  himself,  some- 
thing that  he  must  practise  every  hour,  not  to  say 
every  moment  of  his  life, — something  we  all  prac- 
tise, most  of  us  thoughtlessly,  even  chaotically. 

Some  readers  may  object  to  the  disconnected 
character  of  the  book,  but  right  or  wrong,  the  in- 
tention has  been  to  drop  only  a  hint  here  and 
there.  The  subject  is  too  large  for  exhaustive 
treatment.  The  peculiar  nature  of  the  subject 
also  prevents  its  adequate  treatment  in  words.  A 
mere  intimation  to  stimulate  observation  of  self 
and  others  seems  almost  the  only  method  of  dis- 
cussing it.  What  is  said  in  the  book  is  less  im- 


FOREWORD 


portant  than  what  it  aims  to  lead  the  reader  to 
find  for  himself. 

Verbal  explanations  of  art  must  be  given  out- 
side of  its  temple.  Everyone  one  must  go  alone 
into  the  sacred  threshold  and  catch  a  vision  for 
himself.  A  teacher  can  only  inspire  and  awaken 
expectations  and  point  out  the  door.  Criticisms 
of  poetry  are  only  valuable  when  on  the  poetic 
plane.  Explanations  of  pictures  or  statues  or 
music  are  helpful  only  when  they  indicate  points 
of  view. 

In  the  same  way  action  as  a  language  is  so  dis- 
tinct from  words  that  it  can  never  be  explained 
by  mere  writing.  Has  there  ever  been  a  phrase  so 
pointed,  so  fine,  as  to  translate  a  smile? 

One  reason  why  action  is  such  an  important  ^ 
element  in  education  is  the  fact  that  it  gives  the 
human  mind  such  a  different  point  of  view.  If 
we  can  understand  the  differences  between  our 
own  primary  languages,  words,  tones  and  action, 
we  are  prepared  in  almost  the  only  way  possible  to 
appreciate  the  fact  that  every  art  is  a  language,  a 
peculiar  language  which  can  never  be  translated 
into  any  other  art.  If  an  art  does  not  say  some- 
thing that  no  other  art  can  say  it  is  not  an  art  at 
all.  A  man  of  culture  is  a  man  who  can  read  all 
of  the  artistic  languages  of  his  race. 

The  reader  may  console  himself  that  the  book 
is  not  more  broken.  In  writing  it  I  tried  to  intro- 
duce certain  hints  that  would  spontaneously  cause 
a  smile  in  order  that  the  reader  might  have  an 
example  involuntarily  awakened  for  his  observa- 
tion. A  friend  of  mine  who  looked  over  the 
copy  protested  that  these  humorous  attempts 
were  undignified  so  I  have  made  many  modifica- 
tions. 


FOREWORD 


Seriously,  the  real  continuity  and  theme  of  the 
book  must  be  felt  through  observation  of  life. 

One  of  my  friends  wrote  regarding  my  "  Brown- 
ing and  the  Dramatic  Monologue  " :  "  Here  is 
another  book  by  Curry,  explaining  the  obvious." 
If  to  him  "  Browning  "  was  as  obvious  as  Mother 
Goose,  what  will  he  say  if  he  happens  to  look 
through  this?  He  will  no  doubt  be  reminded  of 
Ben  King's  poem 

"Nothing  to  breathe  but  air, 

Quick  as  a  flash  'tis  gone; 
Nowhere  to  fall  but  off, 
Nowhere  to  stand  but  on." 

One  of  Ben  King's  most  intimate  friends,  who 
was  with  him  when  he  wrote  this  said  to  him, 
"  It  is  too  silly  to  be  anything  but  ridiculous." 
Still,  how  many  thousands  have  read  the  poem 
with  delight. 

If  the  reader  will  not  reject  the  book  but  begin 
a  closer  observation  of  self  and  others,  perhaps  he 
may  catch  a  hint  of  something  he  has  not  thought 
of  before,  and  may  find  a  key  to  some  of  the  pe- 
culiar movements  in  our  time,  and  to  a  better 
understanding  of  himself. 

At  any  rate,  it  is  an  honest  endeavor  to  furnish 
a  key  to  self-study,  self-control,  and  a  help  to  a 
truer  realization  of  the  point  of  view  of  other  peo- 
ple. These  are  most  important  factors  in  success. 
Moreover  it  is  written  to  aid  an  undertaking, 
which  to  the  writer  is  important.  If,  perchance, 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  gift  to  an  institution  be  of  in- 
terest to  the  reader  he  is  asked  not  to  skip  the 
afterword. 


THE  SMILE 


OUR  FIRST  EXPRESSION 

"Turn,  Fortune,  turn  thy  wheel  with  smile  or  frown; 
With  that  wild  wheel  we  go  not  up  or  down; 
Our  hoard  is  little,  but  our  hearts  are  great. 

"  Smile  and  we  smile,  the  lords  of  many  lands 
Frown  and  we  smile,  the  lords  of  our  own  hands; 
For  man  is  man  and  master  of  his  fate." 

From  "  Geraint  and  Enid  "  Tennyson. 

A  Black  Forest  tradition  considers  it  a  good 
omen  if  both  father  and  mother  are  present  when 
their  child  first  smiles.  According  to  Delsarte,  a 
smile  is  the  first  conscious  expression  of  a  human 
being. 

Some  close  observers  tell  us  that  the  smile  is 
also  the  last  expression  that  is  left  upon  the  human 
countenance.  Who  has  not  heard,  a  few  hours 
after  death,  someone  remark,  "  How  pleasant 
the  face  looks!" 

Even  when  death  has  been  painful,  after  a  few 
hours  the  contortions  disappear,  and  the  most 
important  element  of  the  smile  is  seen  about  the 
outer  corners  of  the  eyes.  After  about  twenty- 
four  hours  the  muscles  begin  *  lose  their  activity, 
but  the  last  expressive  attitude  to  vanish  is  the 
primary  element  of  a  smile. 

9 


10  THESMILE 


So  the  first  conscious  awakening  and  the  last 
good-bye  of  the  spirit  are  expressed  by  a  smile. 

The  smile  is  the  acceptance  of  life.  It  is  a 
coming  into  sympathetic  touch  with  others,  the 
first  thanksgiving  for  service  rendered,  the  first 
recognition  by  the  little  child  of  the  love  of  its 
mother.  It  marks  the  awakening  of  the  inner 
life,  the  first  conscious  joy.  A  man  smiles  when 
he  discovers  that  power  is  inborn,  when  he  comes 
to  know  that  he  has  been  weak  because  he  looked 
for  power  outside  of  himself. 

The  smile  is  embodied  in  the  highest  poetry  of 
the  race.  All  myths  of  morning  embody  the 
smile, — Daphne,  the  rosy-fingered  Aurora,  and 
Athena  born  from  a  stroke  of  fire  on  the  forehead 
of  the  sky— all  reflect  the  smile. 

In  the  best  Greek  art,  the  smile,  kind  and 
sincere,  almost  unseen,  is  held  by  all  as  the 
deepest  expression  of  the  Greek  idea  of  Deity. 

Primitive  peoples,  living  near  the  heart  of 
nature,  have  always  felt  that  the  smile  has  great 
significance. 

In  the  centre  of  New  England  is  a  great  lake 
containing  over  three  hundred  islands.  The 
Indians  looked  down  upon  it  from  the  Red  Hill  or 
from  the  height  of  Ossippee  and  called  it  Winne- 
pesaukee,  the  "  smile  of  the  Great  Spirit."  Happy 
were  those  Indians  who  caught  the  first  expression 
of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal  Goodness,  an  expres- 
sion of  which  Plato  caught  a  glimpse,  the  expres- 
sion which  all  good  and  great  men  have  felt  as 
they  looked  upon  the  beautiful  face  of  the  earth 
and  sky. 

It  is  but  a  hint  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal 
goodness  of  which  the  universe  is  the  celebra- 
tion. 


OUR  FIRST  EXPRESSION 11 

Why  in  our  day  is  the  smile  rarely  if  ever  con- 
sidered seriously?  Why  is  it  regarded  as  a  mere 
accident? 

Is  it  not  because  all  modes  of  expression  are 
neglected  except  words? 

Since  printing  was  invented,  written  words 
have  been  worshipped  as  about  the  only  lan- 
guage— at  least  verbal  expression  is  in  general  „ 
the  only  language  seriously  studied,  and  in  our 
day,  even  this  is  usually  studied  as  a  mere  con- 
vention— as  an  objective,  mechanical  thing. 

To  the  modern  scholar,  a  smile  has  no  meaning 
at  all — it  is  only  a  vague  indefinite  sign  of  physical 
feeling. 

Again  and  again  it  has  been  said  by  reformers 
that  all  education  is  the  development  of  char- 
acter. 

To  the  ancients,  especially  the  Romans,  the 
development  of  oratory  was  one  of  the  highest 
phases  of  education,  and  Cicero  has  said,  "  Oratory 
is  a  good  man  speaking  well." 

Darwin  made  a  study  of  expression  because  the 
actions  or  elements  of  the  smile  seemed  to  con- 
flict with  his  hypothesis.  His  studies  of  expres- 
sion, however,  were  confined  to  animals  rather 
than  to  men.  His  observations  regarding  human 
expression  were  endeavors  to  identify  them  with 
animal  movements.  His  attention  was  always 
fixed,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  on  his  theory 
of  natural  selection. 

Expression  is  a  necessary  part  of  us.  Asleep  or 
awake  we  are  always  revealing  the  deep  secrets  of 
our  motives  and  lives.  Expression  is  the  evidence 
to  us  of  the  very  faculties  of  our  being. 

To  improve  the  smile,  one  must  improve  the 
disposition  and  deepen  one's  sympathy  with 

• 


12  THESMILE 


his  fellow-men.  It  is  the  character  of  man  that 
makes  the  smile,  and  the  man  himself  must  be 
improved  to  improve  it.  However,  there  are  cer- 
tain things  which  can  be  done  to  the  smile  directly. 
There  is,  so  to  speak,  technical  training  for  the 
smile. 

A  lawyer  recognizes  the  fact  that  he  must  know 
every  phase  of  the  law  thoroughly,  but  he  rarely 
thinks  of  his  own  voice  and  body, — the  tools  he 
must  use  in  pleading  every  case. 

The  queen  of  society  gives  great  care  to  every 
detail  of  dress  and  to  her  complexion,  but  rarely 
gives  a  thought  to  her  voice,  and  often  leaves  it 
blotched  worse  than  ink  could  spot  her  cheek. 

Even  the  minister  regards  his  voice  and  body 
as  of  little  importance  compared  with  a  knowledge 
of  Arabic  or  Egyptology. 

Here  are  the  instinctive  languages  born  with 
us  all.  Why  do  we  despise  th^m? 

Here  is  a  mirror  in  which  all  may  behold  the 
very  heart  of  man,  yet  how  few  ever  think 
of  it! 

In  a  university,  the  Department  of  Astronomy 
is  usually  the  best  endowed.  Is  this  because  it  is 
easier  to  secure  money  for  the  study  of  something 
that  is  at  a  great  distance  from  us?  Why  are  we 
interested  in  what  is  far  away?  Why  does  the  past 
always  look  brighter  than  the  present?  Why  do 
some  people  think  that  all  good  things  lie  only 
in  the  future  or  far  away?  Why  is  Heaven,  by 
many,  located  in  the  remotest  nook  of  the  uni- 
verse? 

Seemingly,  man  is  more  interested  in  every- 
thing else  than  he  is  in  himself.  The  use  of  a 
child's  own  face,  or  body  or  even  speech  is  about 
the  last  thing  we  think  of  in  its  education. 


OUR  FIRST  EXPRESSION 13 

People  recognize  the  necessity  of  these  simple 
acts  of  expression,  but  they  feel  the  necessity 
only  through  a  kind  of  instinct.  When  they  try 
to  understand  these  things  by  reasoning,  how 
rarely  do  they  show  any  results  of  true  observa- 
tion— any  real  grasp  of  the  simplest  facts  of 
nature. 

O  ye,  who  seek  so  earnestly  to  help  your  fellow- 
men  and  seem  to  feel  that  your  efforts  are  failures, 
look  nearer  home  for  the  cause. 

O  ye,  who  long  with  a  noble  yearning  to  please 
others,  to  meet  your  fellow-men  and  women  and 
to  contribute  to  their  happiness,  why  ask  some- 
one, saying,  "  Look  me  over.  Am  I  all  right?  " 

That  is  well,  but  why  stop  there?  Why  not 
study  those  deep  emotions  and  their  outward 
motions, — those  conditions  and  modes  of  being 
and  those  modulations  of  voice  and  actions  of 
body  which  express  them?  Why  neglect  those  lan- 
guages that  speak  louder  and  more  continuously, 
and  that  make  a  stronger  and  deeper  impression 
than  your  dress,  your  hair,  or  your  skin?  Why 
not  study  the  qualities  of  the  voice  and  speech 
that  are  not  external  and  artificial,  but  simple 
and  true? 

Why  not  eliminate  awkwardness  from  your 
walk,  as  well  as  from  your  dancing,  and  the  con- 
strictions and  affectations  from  your  face  and 
body?  Why  not  study  the  most  simple  and  most 
characteristic  actions  of  the  human  being? 

In  endeavoring  to  understand  something  of  the 
primary  nature  of  human  expression,  let  us  begin 
with  a  simple  example.  Without  an  example, 
you  may  explain,  argue  and  theorize,  and  though 
the  listener  may  say  that  he  understands  you,  he 
will  make  a  remark  which  shows  he  totally  mis- 


14  THESMILE 


understands  your  point.  An  example  is  especially 
necessary  in  any  subject  which  is  not  understood. 
Although  expression  is  natural  to  us  all,  it  is  some- 
thing that  is  little  understood. 

Possibly  no  subject  in  the  world  is  so  frequently 
misunderstood  as  man's  own  simplest  modes  of 
expression,  such  as  the  mobility  of  his  face,  the 
simplest  movements  of  his  body — their  nature, 
their  cause  and  importance  in  the  development  of 
his  character. 

And  what  is  the  best  example? 

From  whatever  point  of  view  we  study  it,  the 
smile  seems  to  be  the  simplest  and  best  specimen 
for  our  observation.  It  is  not  only  first,  it  is  com- 
mon to  the  human  race.  Every  human  being 
smiles  and  is  pleased  to  meet  a  smile. 

The  smile  is  distinctive  of  the  human  being. 
The  horse  and  cow,  it  is  true,  can  show  their 
pleasure  to  a  limited  extent.  The  cat  and  more 
particularly  the  dog  can  use  the  tail  as  a  means 
of  expression.  But  only  man  can  smile. 

If  a  man  could  be  found  who  had  never  smiled, 
he  certainly  would  be  a  curiosity. 

As  an  example,  therefore,  the  smile  is  universal 
and  open  to  everyone  for  observation,  in  all  of  its 
many  varieties. 

May  we  not,  reader,  you  and  I  together,  study 
some  of  the  means  other  than  words  by  which 
human  beings  come  to  understand  each  other? 

"  In  each  is  all."  Every  true  observer  has  been 
led  to  recognize  that  there  is  a  mysterious  relation- 
ship everywhere.  There  is  a  oneness  pervading 
all  objects — all  life. 

It  is  this  unity,  possibly,  which  has  caused  man 
to  invent  the  word  "  universe." 

We   find   this   co-operation   present   in   exact 


OUR  FIRST  EXPRESSION 15 

proportion  to  the  presence  of  life.  The  higher 
any  organism,  the  greater  the  unity — the  higher 
the  race  of  beings,  the  more  it  seems  akin  to 
everything  else. 

Everywhere  we  seem  to  find  a  few  basic  prin- 
ciples which  are  universal. 

Accordingly,  a  true  example  enables  us  to  look 
into  the  very  heart  of  a  subject.  How  quickly 
does  it  clear  up  confusion  and  help  one  to  see  what 
before  was  hard  to  understand ! 

Tennyson's  shortest  poem,  which  is  possibly  his 
greatest  and  most  significant  illustrates  this  law. 

"  Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 

I  pluck  you  out  of  the  crannies; — 

Hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand, 

Little  flower; — but  if  I  could  understand 

What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 

I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is." 

Some  scientists  try  to  find  the  elements  of  an 
incipient  smile  in  the  monkey;  I  myself  have 
watched  a  monkey  alone  for  a  long  time  and  tried 
in  every  way  to  discover  some  faint  trace  of  a 
smile.  Either  I  was  blind  or  I  totally  misunder- 
stood the  animal's  grimaces.  This  monkey  was  un- 
usually intelligent.  He  had  been  trained  to  open 
a  box.  This  box  was  given  to  a  university  pres- 
ident to  open  and  it  took  him  thirty  minutes;  it 
took  the  monkey  only  five  minutes ;  so  its  trainers 
boasted  that  this  monkey  could  outdo  a  college 
president. 

Accordingly  I  went  in  with  great  expectations. 
I  was  alone  with  the  monkey.  He  regarded  me 
with  curiosity.  I  tried  every  trick  and  cut  up  all 
kinds  of  "  monkey  shines."  I  think  my  perform- 
ance would  have  "  made  a  horse  laugh,"  but  that 


16  THESMILE 


monkey  sat  up  there  and  many  "  a  ghastly  wink 
he  wunk  "  but  not  "  a  sickly  smile  he  smole." 

Hence,  I  can  see  no  reason  for  doubting  the 
old  Greek  definition  of  man,  as  "  the  animal  that 
laughs." 

The  question,  however,  whether  animals  can 
smile,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  present  dis- 
cussion. The  theme  before  us  is  the  smile  of  the 
human  being,  its  nature  and  importance,  its  uses 
in  human  life,  how  we  can  improve  it,  or  how  we 
can  use  it  as  a  means  of  improving  ourselves. 

One  other  question,  it  will  be  noticed,  will  be 
carefully  avoided.  Namely,  the  cause  of  the 
smile.  Some  of  the  most  serious  books  in  the 
language,  some  of  the  driest,  some  that  never 
can  awaken  a  smile,  have  been  devoted  to  the 
question,  "  What  is  the  cause  of  laughter? " 
Books  discussing  wit  and  humor  are  notoriously 
lacking  in  that  which  is  discussed.  They  bring 
yawns  but  who  ever  heard  of  one  awakening  a 
smile  unless  it  be  one  of  derision?  They  certainly 
do  not  teach  by  example. 

Several  objectors  rise  as  a  matter  of  course. 

"  The  smile,"  says  one,  "  is  the  most  affected 
action  of  a  human  being.  As  long  as  the  smile  is 
unconscious,  involuntary,  it  is  all  right  but  as 
soon  as  one  thinks  about  it,  or  studies  it,  it  be- 
comes artificial  and  affected." 

"  Observe  the  smile  of  many  men  in  business. 
It  is  affected,  it  never  changes,  it  is  the  same  for 
everybody." 

"  Observe  many  society  people ;  they  have  a 
smile  which  they  put  on  when  they  go  out  to  call 
and  a  special  Sunday  face  that  they  wear  to 
church.  Many  teachers  have  a  professional 
smile.  Speakers,  lecturers  and  even  actors  wear 


OUR  FIRST  EXPRESSION 17 

a  certain  smile  as  a  conventional  part  of  their 
make-up." 

All  this  is  very  true,  and  much  more  might  be 
said.  The  finest  things,  however,  those  that  are 
most  natural,  most  beautiful,  have  been  most  per- 
verted, and  the  very  fact  that  the  perversion  of  the 
smile  is  one  of  the  worst  things  in  human  expres- 
sion, only  proves  its  importance.  The  fact  that 
the  smile  must  be  spontaneous  and  free,  that  it 
cannot  be  affected  nor  arranged  by  rule  nor 
adjusted  by  imitation,  is  true  of  all  modes  of 
natural  expression. 

In  these  very  objections  is  found  the  typical 
character  of  the  smile  and  the  necessity  that  its 
nature  and  qualities  should  be  observed. 

The  fact  that  we  can  get  at  it  only  indirectly, 
for  the  most  part,  brings  up  one  of  the  greatest 
problems  in  human  education.  Perhaps  we  might 
learn  from  a  study  of  the  smile  certain  great 
lessons  in  human  development  which  are  often 
overlooked. 

It  is  not  true  that  the  smile  is  superficial.  It 
reveals  most  definitely  and  adequately  the  attitude 
of  a  human  being.  The  greater  the  man,  the 
greater  and  more  wonderful  his  smile.  The 
deeper,  the  broader  the  human  sympathy,  the 
more  it  is  shown  by  the  human  countenance. 

Another  objector  speaks  up  and  says,  "The 
smile  is  vague  and  indefinite.  You  can  smile  a 
thousand  different  ways ;  not  one  of  them  has  any 
distinct  meaning." 

It  will  be  granted  that  there  are  innumerable 
smiles, — the  sarcastic  smile,  the  sneering  smile, 
the  incredulous  smile,  the  approving  smile,  the 
critical  smile;  but  the  meaning  of  the  smile  is  not 
vague  or  accidental. 


18  THESMILE 


Everyone  can  at  once  recognize  the  difference 
between  a  sarcastic  smile  and  a  genuine  smile; 
between  the  smile  of  love  and  the  smile  of  hate; 
the  smile  of  incredulity  and  the  smile  of  confi- 
dence; the  patronizing  smile  and  the  affected 
smile ;  and  a  hundred  other  species.  Under  them 
all,  human  instinct  recognizes  a  normal  smile  and 
measures  others  by  this  ideal.  The  very  perver- 
sion of  the  smile  depends  for  its  meaning  upon  a 
universal  conception  of  a  true  smile. 

There  is, a  normal  smile  and  we  know  it  as  we 
know  that  truth  is  truth. 

Some  critics  say  we  do  not  know  a  truth  when 
we  meet  it,  but  we  do  know  a  truth  as  we  know 
light  from  darkness.  Among  the  innumerable 
perversions  of  beauty,  love,  and  truth  it  is  aston- 
ishing how  universal  is  the  fundamental  concep- 
tion of  right  and  beauty,  and  this  is  still  more 
true  of  the  realization  of  the  fundamental  smile, 
a  smile  that  really  is  unperverted,  uncontaminated 
by  any  mixture,  a  smile  that  expresses  joy  and  love. 

The  smile  of  everyone  in  the  universe  is  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  everyone  else,  and  yet  all 
have  the  same  fundamental,  distinctive  elements 
in  common,  and  everyone  recognizes  a  true  smile 
and  its  meaning. 

"  Oh,"  you  say,  "  the  smile  is  such  a  small, 
such  an  insignificant  thing." 

It  may  be  small  but  it  is  not  insignificant.  What 
do  you  mean  by  significance?  The  word  comes 
from  "  sign."  A  thing  is  significant  in  proportion 
as  it  stands  for  something  beyond  itself,  as  it 
suggests  some  meaning. 

Significance  is  almost  synonymous  with  ex- 
pression. A  word,  an  action,  or  a  voice  modulation 
is  expressive  in  proportion  as  it  is  significant.  An 


OUR  FIRST  EXPRESSION 19 

act  is  expressive  in  proportion  as  it  signifies  some- 
thing. 

There  can  be  no  worse  mistake  than  making 
the  word  "  insignificant "  synonymous  with 
"  small,"  or  confusing  significance  with  bigness. 
A  turn  of  the  palm  upward  may  mean  heaven;  a 
turn  of  it  downward  may  mean  the  other  place. 
The  simplest  expansion  of  the  body  may  mean 
courage;  the  shrinking  of  the  chest  may  mean 
surrender. 

'  The  Kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observa- 
tion." No  great  art  work,  no  great  truth,  no  great 
deed  comes  with  show.  The  real  significant  things 
are  all  small.  It  is  the  big  things,  the  showy 
things  that  are  insignificant. 

One  man  went  up  to  the  top  of  a  hill  to  pray  for 
rain  and  another  went  up  to  eat  and  drink.  It  is 
of  very  little  consequence,  you  say,  that  one  man 
went  up  to  dinner  and  the  other  went  up  to  pray, 
but  all  their  lives  Elijah  and  Ahab  were  doing 
these  two  things. 

In  all  history  the  smallest  act,  that  which  seemed 
to  most  people  the  least  significant,  has  caused  a 
great  war  or  ended  one  or  prevented  one.  A 
statesman's  word  to  the  ambassador  of  a  foreign 
country,  "  Among  friends  there  is  no  last  word," 
may  or  may  not  have  prevented  a  war,  but  in  the 
history  of  the  race,  such  kindly  remarks,  simple 
as  they  may  seem,  have  warded  off  the  greatest 
catastrophes. 

The  mistake  of  considering  little  things  as 
unimportant  is  close  to  the  universal  mistake  re- 
garding the  lack  of  importance  of  the  simpler  acts 
of  expression  in  general.  "  We  are  too  apt  to 
assume,"  says  Ex-President  Taft,  "  that  manners 
are  nothing  but  the  surface  of  life,  that  they  really 


20  THESMILE 


don't  enter  into  what  constitutes  the  real  things  of 
existence.  In  this  we  make  a  profound  error.  We 
forget  that  life  is  not  made  up  of  great  crises,  and 
that  the  sterner  virtues  are  not  constantly  called 
into  operation.  Home  life  is  not  full  of  grand- 
stand plays.  The  happiness  of  those  with  whom 
we  have  to  do  is  very  seldom  affected  by  events  of 
capital  importance.  Our  day-to-day  pursuit  of 
happiness  is  colored  and  influenced  and  crowned 
by  the  little  things,  by  the  smaller  amenities  or 
the  absence  of  them  in  dealing  with  our  fellow- 
beings." 

What  is  it  that  makes  significance?  The  pri- 
mary question  is  whether  an  act  is  accidental  or 
fundamental.  Fundamentals  are  few,  while  ac- 
cidental things  are  practically  innumerable. 

The  hand  became  such  from  the  necessity  of 
executing  a  few  primary  movements,  yet  it  can 
perform  a  thousand  actions  of  secondary  impor- 
tance. 

There  are  a  few  movements  of  the  foot  which  are 
fundamental  and  necessary  to  expression,  yet  a 
man  can  move  his  feet  in  a  thousand  ways  which 
have  no  real  significance. 

The  human  head  can  roll  around  in  a  great  num- 
ber of  ways,  yet  very  few  of  these  movements  have 
necessary  significance;  but  when  they  are  under 
his  control,  then  the  man  has  power. 

Therefore  a  few  fundamental  actions  are  the 
basis  of  all  bodily  expression. 

If  these  are  right  the  innumerable  accidental  or 
secondary  actions  will  be  right.  If  the  elementals 
are  wrong  or  weak  the  accidentals  will  necessarily 
be  perverted.  The  true  method  of  improving  ex- 
pression depends  upon  an  understanding  of  these 
elemental  actions  and  their  development. 


OUR  FIRST  EXPRESSION 21 

An  expansion  of  the  torso  when  properly  co- 
ordinated with  certain  contractions  of  the  balls  of 
the  feet,  is  a  part  of  the  expression  of  uprightness. 
This  is  a  fundamental  characteristic  of  man. 
"  Man,"  said  Sir  William  Turner,  "  is  the  only 
animal  with  a  vertical  spine."  If  this  is  true,  then 
the  counterpoise  curves  of  the  spine  must  be  of 
fundamental  importance. 

A  great  many  gymnastic  exercises,  instead  of 
developing  these  curves,  actually  destroy  them. 
Games  throw  the  man  into  a  thousand  different 
attitudes.  He  may  work  for  years  to  master  some- 
thing that  is  merely  accidental  to  human  nature, 
some  exhibitional  feat  which  actually  destroys  the 
grace  of  his  movements  and  may  even  tend  to 
shorten  his  life. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  who  studies  the  few 
fundamental  normal  actions  of  the  human  body 
and  develops  them  will  not  only  secure  grace  and 
power  of  expression,  but  may  add  years  to  his  life. 

When  a  man's  courage  wakens,  when  he  be- 
comes conscious  that  he  is  really  an  expression  of 
infinite  life,  his  body  straightens  in  obedience  to 
the  active  will.  Then  the  smile  follows  as  the 
ultimate  expression  of  dignity,  power  and  self- 
control. 

The  smile,  simple  as  it  is,^  is  a  fundamental 
human  expression,  revealing  a  person's  motives 
and  his  attitude  toward  life. 

Let  no  man,  therefore,  sneer  at  the  smile  be- 
cause it  is  apparently  commonplace  and  seemingly 
insignificant. 

A  smile  indicates  the  incipient  loss  of  faith  in 
extravagance  and  mere  feats  of  exhibition.  When 
we  begin  to  see  things  in  their  proper  perspective, 
when  we  begin  to  recognize  ourselves  as  we  really 


22  THESMILE 


are,  and  come  into  truer  relations  with  our  fellow- 
men,  we  instinctively  greet  the  new  revelation 
with  a  welcoming  smile. 

We  learn  to  recognize  the  really  good  man  by 
the  character  of  his  smile. 

Look  into  the  face  of  a  great  man.    The  greater 

the  man,  the  deeper  his  smile;  the  more  it  has  of 

the  simplicity  of  the  little  child,  the  more  it  is  filled 

/  with  something  of  its  primitive  meaning.  VA  true, 

genuine  smile  seems  to  flow  all  over  the  face. 

When  Phillips  Brooks  smiled,  his  countenance 
seemed  transfigured.  A  newspaper  reporter  once 
wrote  of  him:  "Phillips  Brooks  passed  through 
Pie  Alley  to-day  and  the  place  was  bathed  in  sun- 
shine for  half  an  hour." 

In  the  smile  of  Professor  Charles  Eliot  Norton 
was  a  sort  of  scintillation — a  number  of  scintilla- 
tions— a  general  undulation  that  quickly  ran  all 
over  his  forehead  and  the  place  where  there  had 
once  been  hair,  back  into  where  there  was  hair, 
and  was  lost  like  jolly  young  children  scampering 
into  a  wood. 

I  saw  Gladstone's  smile  but  once,  and  that  from 
the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons ;  but  even  the 
memory  of  it  comes  with  something  of  the  effect  of 
an  electric  current. 

And  who  would  dare  undertake  to  express  the 
smile  of  Emerson  or  the  benignant  Jove-like  beam 
on  the  face  of  Bronson  Alcott? 

Greatness  has  always  seemed  most  great  in  the 
smile,  but  if  one  would  understand  the  smile,  and 
realize  anything  of  its  expressive  power,  he  must 
observe  it  in  all  classes  of  men.  There  are  smiles 
that  are  never  doubted  by  a  man's  fellow-beings. 

Let  us,  then,  study  the  smile  to  find  something 
of  the  general  characteristics  and  importance  of 


OUR  FIRST  EXPRESSION 23 

human  expression,  its  primary  laws,  its  value  in 
revealing  the  spirit  of  human  art  and  the  nature  of 
the  process  of  developing  character,  its  intimation 
of  the  meaning  of  the  universe  and  the  ultimate 
destiny  of  life. 


n 

QUALITIES  OF  EXPRESSION 

V 

The  smile  as  a  simple  and  elementary  expres- 
sion embodies  certain  characteristics  which  be- 
long to  all  expression, — from  the  most  childlike 
recital  to  the  most  finished  oration,  from  the  sim- 
plest song  to  the  sublimest  epic,  from  the  simplest 
illustration  to  the  most  exalted  painting,  from  the 
humblest  memorial  to  the  grandest  monument. 

Therefore  as  a  human  act  which  is  easily  stud- 
ied, it  enables  a  careful  student  to  observe  the 
nature  and  character  of  the  universal  laws  of  all 
expression  and  all  art. 

The  study  of  the  smile  will  show  us,  for  one 
thing,  that  expression  is  not  intrinsically  a  physical 
thing, — that  it  transcends  the  merely  physical. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  "  physical  expression." 

Expression  is  a  revelation  of  mind  dominating 
the  body — revealing  itself  through  the  body  as  a 
medium. 

Expression  has  aptly  been  called  "  the  motion  . 
of  emotion."     Purely  volitional  movements  are  \ 
not  necessarily  expressive.    Our  word  "  emotion  " 
is  so  named  because  it  gives  rise  to  motion. 

As  a  consequence  of  its  mental  character,  the 
smile  acts  from  within  outward.  The  least  ob- 
servation shows  us  the  general  application  of  this 
fact.  A  universal  fact  has  been  called  a  law. 
Accordingly  this  is  a  general  law  of  all  natural 
expression. 

24 


QUALITIES   OF  EXPRESSION  25 

The  flower  blooms  from  within.  The  leaves  of 
the  tree  are  the  "  outerance,"  or  (as  we  contract 
the  word)  utterance  or  expression  of  life  emanating 
from  the  root. 

The  bird  sings  from  a  full  heart  and  the  kitten 
plays  because  of  an  exuberance  of  life. 

Whatever  is  natural  acts  from  an  inner  fullness 
and  inner  depth  of  life.  The  general  term  for  this 
law  is  "  spontaneity."  The  animal  moves  from 
within — a  machine  is  actuated  from  without. 

A  human  being  is  a  wonderful  co-ordination  of 
spontaneous  and  deliberative  elements.  The 
deliberatives  are  greatly  overestimated,  the  use 
of  them  makes  a  man  a  machine,  and  again,  a  man 
is  mechanical  in  proportion  to  his  suppression  of 
the  spontaneous  and  the  exaggeration  of  the 
deliberative  elements. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  man  is  impulsive  and 
chaotic  when  he  suppresses  the  deliberative  and  re- 
lies entirely  upon  the  spontaneous.  A  perfect  man 
must  have  both  elements  in  sympathetic  union. 

In  an  endeavor  to  develop  expression  I  have 
come  upon  what  to  me  has  been  a  most  important 
principle.  We  can  direct  our  attention  to  funda- 
mental acts  making  them  more  deliberative  and 
conscious,  thus  increasing  their  vigor  and  intensity, 
and  in  this  way  we  indirectly  stimulate  the  sponta- 
neous elements.  The  fundamental  elements 
seem  to  be  intended  to  be  deliberative  and  volun- 
tary and  conscious.  The  secondary  elements  are 
necessarily  more  spontaneous.  In  this  way  we  can 
bring  into  co-ordination  all  the  spontaneous  and 
deliberative  elements  in  human  nature.  This 
prevents  the  man  from  being  artificial  or  mechan- 
ical on  the  one  hand,  or  chaotically  impulsive  on 
the  other. 


26  THESMILE 


In  all  artistic  education,  or  the  development  of 
man's  appreciation  of  the  best  in  literature  and 
art,  in  making  a  speaker,  reader,  or  artist  of  any 
kind  we  find  such  co-ordination  necessary. 

There  are  innumerable  or  perverted  smiles,  but 
close  examination  soon  reveals  the  fact  that  the 
spontaneous  co-ordinate  elements  are  absent. 

The  natural  man  is  spontaneous.  All  external 
action  is  the  expression  of  the  underlying  activities 
of  nature. 

A  smile,  like  the  blooming  of  a  flower  or  the 
singing  of  a  bird,  should  be  easy  and  spontaneous. 
A  deliberative,  labored  smile  is  never  genuine. 
The  same  is  true  of  all  expression. 

Exaggeration  of  the  analytic  and  scientific  at  the 
expense  of  natural  feeling  and  creative  endeavor, 
is  to-day  common  in  nearly  every  class  of  educa- 
tional institution.  In  fact,  every  modern  repres- 
sive method  in  education,  being  necessarily  cold, 
critical  and  dry,  tends  toward  the  production  of 
mere  machines. 

What  can  be  less  edifying  than  a  deliberate, 
mechanical  smile?  Nowhere  are  affectation  and 
mere  mechanical  manipulation  more  displeasing. 
We  encounter  all  these  unpleasant  facts  in  the 
study  oMaughter. 

A  genuine  smile  is  always  spontaneous.  It  is 
something  that  comes  to  us.  The  affected,  delib- 
erate, hypocritical  smile — all  faulty  smiles — which 
are  usually  shown  by  their  one-sidedness,  violate 
this  law.  They  do  not  come  from  within  outward. 
It  is  difficult  to  smile  deliberatively.  We  permit 
ourselves  to  do  so. 

Have  we  then  no  control  over  our  smiles?  On 
the  contrary  we  can  cultivate  an  attitude  of  mind 
that  will  bring  a  smile.  We  can  take  the  point  of 


QUALITIES   OF  EXPRESSION  27 

view,  in  looking  at  any  subject,  that  will  awaken  a 
smile.  Even  in  the  darkest  hour  we  can  often  look 
at  things  and  see  the  bright  side  of  the  situation 
and  smile  in  the  face  of  the  worst  difficulties. 

Again  the  genuine  smile  is  simple.  By  "  sim- 
plicity "  is  meant  the  directness  between  cause  and 
effect.  Nature  has  no  effect  which  is  exaggerated 
beyond  its  cause. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  genuine  smile.  Much 
laughter,  as  will  be  shown  later,  is  either  forced 
or  permitted  to  explode  too  quickly.  The  fruit  is 
plucked  before  it  is  ripe.  The  smile  should  ever 
support  and  transcend  the  laugh. 

This  law  of  simplicity  is  also  universal,  not  only 
obtaining  in  all  nature,  but  governing  all  true 
art. 

The  simpler  language  is,  the  more  it  expresses. 
The  simpler  the  writer,  the  simpler  the  artist,  the 
greater  is  the  degree  of  his  manifestation.  In  fact, 
Professor  Norton  once  said  to  me,  "  You  can  count 
on  your  fingers  the  poets  and  artists  of  the  race 
who  have  been  able  to  be  simple." 

Such  are  Homer  and  Phidias.  From  .flSschylus, 
Sophocles  and  Euripides,  the  three  great  trage- 
dians, we  can  imagine  one  who  could  be  as  simple 
as  Homer.  Virgil  must  be  reckoned  in  our  list 
because  he  was  able  to  be  so  simple  in  the  realm  of 
beauty.  We  must  also  include  Dante.  From 
Raphael,  Michael  Angelo  and  Leonardo  da  Vinci 
we  must  imagine  one  as  we  did  from  the  three 
leading  Greek  tragedians.  We  must  recognize 
them  though  no  one  of  them  could  be  so  simple  as 
Dante  or  Phidias.  We  must  add  Cervantes  and 
Shakespeare.  All  other  poets  and  artists  stand 
upon  a  lower  level. 

Professor  Norton's  words  made  a  deep  impres- 


28  THESMILE 


sion  upon  me.  The  very  simplest  and  most 
elemental  acts  of  men  are  always  most  expres- 
sive. 

Another  law  of  expression  is  repose.  Repose 
is  not  mere  stability;  certainly  not  inactivity; 
it  is  not  a  lack  of  power,  but  a  reserve  and  control 
of  power. 

True  repose  is  seen  in  the  eagle  on  the  wing,  not 
in  the  over-fed  pig  asleep  in  its  sty.  It  means 
activity  at  the  centre,  not  at  the  surface.  It  means 
possibility  of  movement  and  action, — a  suggestion 
of  what  may  be  done,  rather  than  a  direct  and 
immediate  demonstration.  The  sense  of  possi- 
bility transcends  the  sense  of  actuality. 

Repose  is  found  in  proportion  as  the  attitude 
transcends  the  emotion,  and  the  bearing  trans- 
cends the  attitude.  Laughter,  or  a  mere  sudden 
jerk  of  the  countenance,  does  not  suggest  repose; 
but  when  there  is  a  deep  diffusion  of  feeling  all 
over  the  face  and  body,  when  we  feel  that  life  is 
kindled  within,  then  we  have  a  sense  of  power 
and  a  smile  is  its  expression. 

The  smile  should  be  untrammeled.  Constric- 
tions of  the  face  may  hinder,  selfish  emotions  may 
localize  and  pervert  it,  but  the  smile  when  sincere, 
flows  all  over  the  face,  and  in  fact  all  over  the  body. 

If  the  impression  which  causes  the  smile  is  deep 
enough,  it  breaks  down  all  barriers,  penetrates  all 
the  hidden  organs  of  the  body  and  stimulates  every 
part. 

Again,  a  smile  shows  itself  to  be  a  true  act  of 
expression  in  the  fact  that  there  are  many  simulta- 
neous elements  in  harmony.  The  true  smile  is  not 
local.  A  mere  local  smile  at  the  corner  of  the 
mouth  is  a  grin.  A  genuine  smile  is  indicated  by 
certain  little  wrinkles  at  the  outer  corner  of  the  eye 


QUALITIES   OF  EXPRESSION  29 

especially  of  the  lower  eyelid,  and  by  the  diffusion 
of  life  all  over  the  countenance. 

In  fact,  if  we  examine  the  fundamental  character 
of  a  smile,  we  find  it  possesses  a  variety  of  parts 
simultaneously  correlated  in  a  certain  unity. 

Usually  the  term  co-ordination  refers  to  a  great 
many  elements  brought  into  play  by  one  impulse — 
a  great  many  parts  moving  simultaneously  and 
spontaneously  from  an  inward  cause.  Every  true 
expression,  therefore,  is  dependent  upon  the  co- 
ordination of  many  elements.  True  expression, 
like  life,  depends  upon  a  certain  organic  unity. 

In  fact  this  is  the  test  to  apply  to  the  genuineness 
not  only  of  the  smile,  but  of  any  expression.  A 
mere  local  movement  is  meaningless,  artificial  and 
mechanical.  Only  those  expressions  which  are 
the  outward  sign  of  the  inward  fullness  of  life 
within  are  free  and  spontaneous. 

The  whole  secret  of  developing  expression, 
according  to  the  methods  which  have  been  adopted 
at  the  School  of  Expression,  is  the  discovery  of 
fundamental  actions,  conditions  and  elements 
which  are  not  accidental  or  superficial,  but  central, 
those  which  are  distinctive  of  any  agent  or  any 
function;  and  also  the  primary  mental  actions 
which  cause  these  and  which  can  be  so  accentuated 
that  a  great  variety  of  elements  are  brought  into 
higher  unity  and  efficiency. 

The  exercise  of  what  is  accidental  secures  only 
weak  and  inadequate,  mechanical  and  artificial 
results. 

The  stimulation,  development  and  exercise  of 
the  fundamental  brings  power  and  naturalness, 
makes  the  man  more  a  man  and  gives  him  con- 
trol of  the  very  fountain  head  of  expression. 

The  study  of  the  smile  not  only  reveals  co- 


30  THESMILE 


ordinations  of  all  parts  of  the  face,  but  we  dis- 
cover deeper  co-ordinations  in  every  part  of  the 
body.  Emotion  causes  a  diffusion  of  activity  to  the 
most  vital  parts  of  man's  organism,  and  brings 
many  parts  into  spontaneous  and  simultaneous 
activity. 

As  has  been  said,  there  is  a  union  of  the  delib- 
erative and  the  spontaneous.  In  fact,  the  sponta- 
neous is  always  present  in  all  natural  expression. 
In  all  true  art  the  spontaneous  is  always  in  the 
ascendancy. 

While  we  can  control  the  deliberative  elements 
only  by  directing  our  will,  not  to  accidental  but  to 
fundamental  elements,  the  spontaneous  elements 
are  awakened  indirectly. 

When  the  deliberative  is  directed  to  the  acciden- 
tal, or  the  external,  all  is  weakness  and  super- 
ficiality. And  yet,  in  all  true  expression  and  art 
it  is  necessary  to  arouse  the  spontaneous  elements. 
They  can  be  awakened  by  directing  the  delib- 
erative attention  to  the  few  fundamental  actions 
upon  which  all  expression  depends. 

Let  us  go  deeper.  A  study  of  laughter  shows 
that  thinking  and  feeling  are  co-ordinate.  A 
smile  may  be  controlled,  regulated,  guided  and 
reserved,  and  at  the  same  time,  be  easy,  sponta- 
neous and  free. 

In  an  uncultured  person,  as  will  be  shown  later, 
mirth  breaks  out  in  a  sudden  guffaw  and  roar  of 
laughter. 

The  smile  indicates  a  deep,  harmonious  union 
and  balance  of  thought  and  feeling. 

The  man  is  feeling  what  he  thinks  and  thinking 
what  he  feels.  This  balance  of  the  primary 
elements  of  human  nature  causes  the  countenance 
and  whole  body  to  unfold  like  a  flower.  It  makes 


QUALITIES   OF  EXPRESSION  31 

the  smile  gradual  and  gives  dignity  to  the  entire 
body. 

Here  we  find  one  of  the  points  in  favor  of  the 
importance  of  expression  in  education.  Expres- 
sion reveals  not  the  degree  of  information  of  the 
human  mind,  but  the  attitude  of  soul,  the  co- 
ordination of  the  primary  elements  of  man's  being. 
One-sided  expressions  will  always  show  lack  of 
co-ordination  and  unity  in  being. 

Expression  will  show  whether  one  is  able  to 
command  the  right  union  of  his  different  powers 
and  faculties,  and  who  will  deny  that  these  are 
primary  elements  in  the  development  of  human 
character? 


m 

THE  EXPRESSIVE  PROCESS 

The  study  of  the  smile  reveals  not  only  the 
qualities,  but  the  very  processes  of  expression. 
How  should  we  produce  tone?  As  easily  as  we 
smile. 

In  the  deepest  processes  of  expression,  think 
of  the  way  you  smile — the  ease,  simplicity,  direct- 
ness and  spontaneity.  In  the  same  way  the  singer 
should  produce  his  tone  and  the  speaker  use  his 
voice. 

Tones  become  harsh,  nasal,  throaty,  flat  and 
unpleasant  because  of  constrictions  in  the  throat 
during  the  attempts  at  sound  production.  You 
would  not  produce  a  smile  in  the  same  way,  nor 
could  you.  After  a  study  of  the  co-ordinate  laws 
of  nature,  the  discovery  of  fundamental  elements 
and  the  training  of  these,  the  tone  will  flow  as 
easily  as  the  smile  and  will  share  the  life  of  the 
soul  as  does  the  countenance. 

The  same  applies  to  all  vocal  expression.  If 
we  concentrate  our  attention  and  allow  the  sponta- 
neous energies  of  thinking  and  feeling  to  dominate 
conversation  or  reading,  then  inflection,  change  of 
pitch,  tone-color  and  movement  will  begin  to 
manifest  life,  tenderness  and  sympathy.  They 
will  reveal  our  inmost  imaginings  and  truly  inter- 
pret our  deepest  experiences. 

Again,  in  observing  the  characteristics  of  the 
smile,  we  find  in  it  the  basis  of  the  laws  of  all  the 
arts. 

32 


THE  EXPRESSIVE  PROCESS 33 

The  painter  will  seek  and  labor  for  the  true 
expression,  but  at  the  climax  the  right  element 
seems  to  come  to  him;  that  which  gives  the  true 
expression  to  his  picture  seems  almost  an  accident. 
It  comes,  he  hardly  knows  how  or  when. 

No  true  artist  paints  by  rule. 

If  a  building  lacks  unity  it  is  unsatisfactory. 
If  a  statue  does  not  seem  as  simple,  as  direct,  as 
inevitable  an  utterance  as  the  smile,  it  is  stiff, 
rigid  and  mechanical.  There  is  something  wrong 
with  it. 

A  song  must  be  simple.  A  great  poem  must 
come  forth  with  all  the  spontaneity  and  natural- 
ness of  the  smile. 

Imagination,  in  fact  all  the  emotions  and  higher 
faculties  act  spontaneously.  True  animation  is 
but  the  response  of  our  sensibilities  to  thinking. 
The  sharing  of  all  our  powers  in  a  simultaneous 
process  is  what  gives  human  nature  its  fullness  of 
life  and  energy. 

This  unity  is  a  living  process  of  co-ordination 
and  will  be  found  a  part  of  our  nature. 

The  struggle  to  master  the  mode  of  expression 
in  any  art  is  necessary,  but  when  the  artist  has 
done  his  best,  he  gives  his  highest  endeavors  to 
the  great  creative  impulses  that  spring  up  in  the 
heart  of  every  individual. 

We  are  called.  Every  human  being  is  called, 
every  human  being  is  equipped  and  endowed  in 
accordance  with  the  great  law  of  the  universe. 
He  that  is  faithful  over  a  few  things  will  become 
ruler  in  many  things.  He  who  smiles  receives  in 
his  soul  the  fullness  of  joy  and  becomes  greater 
than  he  that  overcometh  a  city. 

The  study  of  the  smile  reveals  to  us  that  true 
expression  is  not  primarily  physical  but  mental, — 


34  THESMILE 


a  process  working  from  within  outward — sponta- 
neous, but  with  a  deliberative  element,  that  is, 
free  and  not  artificial  or  labored;  that  it  is  always 
a  co-ordinate  union  of  many  elements  which  can 
never  be  complete  without  the  genuine  action  of 
thinking,  feeling  and  imagination,  as  well  as  will ; 
that  all  faculties  are  in  some  degree  concerned 
in  every  simple  and  true  act  of  expression.  We 
find  this  law  a  universal  one.  It  is  a  governing 
principle  in  every  art. 

A  true  picture  has  all  the  unity  of  a  smile.  We 
must  feel  in  a  song  the  absence  of  mere  mechanical 
performance.  We  must  feel  a  certain  fullness  and 
emanation  of  human  expression. 

In  performing  upon  a  musical  instrument,  we 
must  lose  the  sense  of  the  instrument  and  feel  all 
the  depth  of  love,  joy  and  human  passion. 

The  characteristics  or  qualities  of  expression 
are  also  the  characteristics  of  all  great  art.  Why 
do  our  art  schools  so  rarely  study  the  smile  or  any 
action  or  voice  modulation?  They  merely  study 
drawing.  This  is  important,  but  observation  must 
be  trained.  There  must  be  a  knowledge  of  the 
universal  laws  of  expression  in  the  pupil's  own 
face  and  body.  Why  endeavor  to  secure  a  knowl- 
edge of  expression  by  studying  the  mere  objective 
records  found  in  music,  painting  and  sculpture? 

If  all  of  us  understood  more  thoroughly  the 
meaning  of  our  simplest  movements,  men  would 
model,  draw  and  paint  better  and  play  better  upon 
the  flute  and  violin.  We  should  sing  better  and 
construct  better  buildings.  All  the  arts  are  one  in 
principle  and  are  governed  by  the  same  laws. 


IV 
SMILE  OR  SCOWL 

Sometimes  we  can  best  see  the  nature  and  im- 
portance of  a  thing  by  looking  at  its  opposite.  One 
of  the  opposites  of  the  smile  is  the  scowl.  The 
contraction  of  the  brow  expresses  antagonism; 
the  smile,  sympathy.  The  scowl  denotes  dis- 
approval and  dissatisfaction;  the  smile,  approval 
and  satisfaction.  The  scowl  signifies  discontent 
and  annoyance,  the  smile  contentment  and  enjoy- 
ment. The  scowl  implies  that  we  are  bored,  the 
smile  that  we  are  entertained  and  amused. 

The  smile  imparts  thankfulness  and  receptivity, 
a  welcome  to  what  another  is  saying;  the  scowl 
implies  the  shut  door, — that  we  are  not  listening, 
or  caring. 

The  smile  denotes  that  we  are  looking  up;  the 
scowl  that  we  are  looking  down.  The  smile  sug- 
gests an  acceptance  of  the  plans  of  the  universe,  a 
loyalty  and  welcome  to  the  onward  movement  of 
things;  the  scowl  that  the  universe  is  all  wrong, 
the  scowler  antagonistic  because  he  was  not  con- 
sulted in  its  creation. 

The  smile  expresses  a  certain  courageous  con- 
fidence in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  good ;  the  scowl 
an  unwillingness  to  accept  conditions,  and  it  often 
shows  antagonism  of  the  man  to  himself. 

The  scowl  and  the  smile  are  born  of  spiritual 
attitude,  or  of  our  choice  of  point  of  view. 

Have  we  no  control  over  our  points  of  view? 
Can  we  choose  to  scowl  or  smile?  This  is  really 

35 


36  THESMILE 


a  serious  question.  Henri  Bergson  in  his  book  on 
"  Laughter,"  translated  from  the  French,  and 
James  Sully,  in  his  able  "  Essay  on  Laughter,"  and 
I  believe  all  great  authors  who  have  studied  the 
smile,  contend  that  the  smile  is  social  rather  than 
moral  in  its  character.  Primarily,  possibly,  the 
smile  is  social.  It  expresses  a  man's  relation  to 
his  fellow-men.  It  is  born  of  the  social  and  sym- 
pathetic instinct. 

However,  the  question  as  to  whether  we  shall 
smile  or  scowl  is  one  of  the  great  tests  of  human 
life  and  human  character.  If  a  man  is  free  he  can 
do  the  one  or  refuse  to  do  the  other.  At  any 
moment  in  life,  if  the  character  of  the  man  is 
great  enough,  he  can  smile  or  frown. 

Is  not  this  the  real  problem  of  the  ages  brought 
to  a  fundamental  point  where  we  can  see  the  two 
paths?  Is  it  not  the  problem  in  the  depths  of  every 
life  and  soul? 

Let  each  one  go  back  carefully  in  his  experiences 
to  some  real  battlefield  of  his  life.  Was  there  not 
a  crucial  moment  when  he  could  have  smiled  or 
frowned,  when  he  deliberately  took  his  choice? 

The  insult  came.  The  awakened  impulse  was 
to  meet  scowl  with  scowl.  Could  we  not  have 
obeyed  David  Crockett's  rule  and  first  have  been 
sure  we  were  right  before  we  spoke?  We  could 
have  risen  to  a  higher  plane  of  confidence,  love 
and  sympathy,  and  even  pity,  for  the  man  who  had 
misunderstood.  We  could  have  seen  behind  the 
scowl  the  real  man  who  would  regret  his  words; 
to-morrow  we  could  have  appealed  from  Philip 
drunk  to  Philip  sober. 

We  do  not  allow  ourselves  to  stop  and  scowl 
back  at  the  drunken  man's  words — they  are  un- 
noticed. 


SMILE   OR  SCOWL 37 

A  great  woman  is  said  to  have  remarked,  "  Only 
a  gentleman  could  insult  me,  and  he  will  not." 

Accordingly  the  voice  of  the  insulter  must  be 
unheeded  and  unheard. 

By  simply  smiling  you  can  make  yourself  im- 
mune from  antagonism.  No  sign  of  anger  will  be 
left  on  the  face  of  your  would-be  antagonist. 

On  the  other  hand,  meet  frown  with  frown  and 
a  fire  is  kindled,  and  how  great  a  forest  may  be 
kindled  by  how  small  a  fire! 

Truly  love  is  the  secret  of  life.  Obedience  to 
the  Master's  rule  would  settle  all  human  difficul- 
ties. If  we  would  but  do  unto  others  as  we  would 
have  them  do  unto  us,  we  should  eliminate  all 
contentions. 

Scowl  or  smile? 

How  simple,  how  insignificant,  seem  these  two 
acts  of  the  countenance ;  yet,  how  far  reaching  the 
result! 

Can  we  control  them? 

That  depends  upon  how  quickly  we  begin ;  upon 
the  spontaneity  with  which  we  can  resist  tempta- 
tion and  change  our  point  of  view. 

To  turn  an  impulse  to  scowl  into  a  cause  for  a 
smile  we  must  turn  our  attention  to  a  higher  love ; 
we  must  go  into  the  citadel  of  our  hearts  and  there 
keep  watch  and  there  enthrone  a  universal  sym- 
pathy; we  must  be  so  deeply  imbued  with  these 
emotions  that  the  right  impulse  can  replace  the 
wrong  one. 

All  human  action  or  expression  starts  in  an  idea, 
in  an  impulse  which  at  a  certain  moment  we  wel- 
come or  reject.  Once  we  welcome  a  point  of  view 
or  indulge  an  impulse,  control  may  be  difficult ;  but 
in  its  first  inception  it  is  as  easy  as  a  turn  of  the 
hand, — it  is  simply  a  change  in  the  attitude  of  our 
being. 


38  THESMILE 


The  real  centre  of  all  our  battles  is  in  the  mind, 
in  our  power  to  control  our  attention,  to  be  able 
to  change  the  current  of  thought  at  the  very  be- 
ginning. We  can  change  feeling  at  the  very  start, 
as  we  can  change  the  direction  of  a  stream  easily, 
and  in  fact  only,  near  the  fountain  head. 

Crossing  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  Canadian 
Pacific  Railroad  I  awoke  one  morning  at  early 
dawn.  The  train  had  stopped  and  I  looked  out 
to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  mountains  before  sunrise. 
Just  before  my  eyes,  in  rustic  letters,  spanning  a 
small  stream,  were  the  words  "  The  Great  Di- 
vide." 

This  stream  was  divided  into  two  parts;  one 
flowing  east  and  the  other  west.  One  of  these 
branches  flowed  into  the  Red  River  of  the  North 
and  found  its  way  to  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  Atlantic 
Ocean;  the  other  found  the  Columbia  River  and, 
after  thousands  of  miles,  emptied  into  the  Pacific 
Ocean. 

With  a  shovelful  of  dirt  I  could  have  turned  the 
stream  so  that  the  whole  would  have  gone  either 
to  the  Atlantic  or  to  the  Pacific. 

Smile  or  scowl?  That  is  the  question  of  the 
ages ;  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  problems  and  goes 
deep  into  the  nature  of  self-command  in  every 
living  soul. 

The  smile  or  scowl  is  born  simply  of  an  attitude 
of  the  soul.  Can  we  change  that?  Let  us  discuss 
the  question: — can  we  command  our  thinking  or 
point  of  view? 

Say  what  we  may,  there  is  a  moment  when  we 
can  reject  the  frown  and  choose  the  smile. 

One  implies  looking  up,  the  other  looking  down. 
One  hints  at  a  willingness  to  use  things  for  the 
best,  with  expectancy  of  the  best.  One  implies 


SMILE   OR  SCOWL 39 

love,  loyalty  to  life.    The  other  implies  unwilling- 
ness, antagonism  and  hate. 

Accordingly,  the  smile  indicates  the  turning- 
point  in  life,  it  indicates  the  Great  Divide  between 
the  upward  and  the  downward  path.  The  smile 
foretells  victory.  The  ability  to  smile  marks  the 
greatest  human  power. 


SMILE  OR  FROWN 

The  smile  is  opposed  not  only  to  the  scowl,  but 
also  to  the  frown  and  to  something  for  which  we 
hardly  have  a  name — shall  we  call  it  a  droop  of 
the  countenance  or  a  whine?  The  whine  means 
rather  the  vocal  expression  of  the  frown,  but  it  is 
a  good  word. 

The  smile  means  not  only  sympathy,  joy,  love, — 
it  means  also  courage,  the  sense  of  resolution,  the 
power  and  readiness  to  face  difficulties, — a  loyal 
acceptance  of  life  and  all  its  problems,  and  a 
thankfulness  that  we  have  been  assigned  a  difficult 
r6le. 

The  whine  expresses  dissatisfaction  with  our 
part  in  life  and  a  cowardly  shrinking  from  diffi- 
culties. 

In  the  smile  there  is  a  lifting  of  the  whole  coun- 
tenance. All  the  elevating  muscles  are  active. 

Someone  has  said  that  all  progress  depends 
upon  intelligent  discontent. 

Is  this  true? 

Even  dissatisfaction  with  wrong  conditions  is 
best  expressed  by  love,  by  a  smile. 

If  a  man  strike  you  on  the  right  cheek,  turn  the 
other. 

Even  righteous  indignation  against  wrong  is 
best  expressed,  not  by  a  scowl  or  a  frown,  but  by 
the  expression  of  a  higher  point  of  view  and  a 
smile  for  the  realization  of  better  conditions. 

How  easy  it  is  for  a  human  being  to  drop  the 

40 


SMILE   OR  FROWN 41 

corners  of  the  mouth;  how  common  is  such  a 
gloomy  "  signal  "  on  the  street! 

Not  one  in  a  thousand  carries  the  mouth  in  its 
normal  position, — a  horizontal  line,  in  correspond- 
ence with  the  intention  of  the  Creator. 

Some  can  remember  the  old  covered  wagon  of 
the  pioneer  moving  "  out  West,"  sometimes  it  was 
drawn  by  oxen  and  sometimes  by  horses.  "  Out 
West "  this  old  wagon  was  called  a  "  prairie- 
schooner."  As  you  watched  it  disappear  in  the 
distance,  the  rear  end  of  the  old  wagon  looked  as 
if  it  were  weeping  for  the  old  home  it  was  leaving. 
The  corners  of  its  mouth  were  very  low,  indeed. 

If  we  are  to  judge  the  men  and  women  we  meet 
by  the  corners  of  the  mouth,  they  seem  to  be 
moving  onward  with  discontent  for  the  past,  and  a 
premonition  of  some  coming  horror !  On  all  sides 
we  see  this  expression  of  discouragement. 

If  there  were  some  way  by  which  the  corners  of 
the  mouth  could  be  elevated,  it  would  be  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings  that  could  come  to  the  race. 

The  only  thing  that  can  lift  the  corners  of  the 
mouth  is  the  smile. 

The  smile  eliminates  discontent,  the  want  of 
self-reliance,  and  all  such  infirmities  of  the  will. 

There  is  a  story  that  relates  how,  at  one  time, 
the  devil  made  up  his  mind  to  retire  from  business. 
He  felt  he  had  done  enough  and  that  he  should 
give  others  a  chance.  So  he  arranged  all  his  tools 
and  advertised  them  for  sale.  Among  the  display 
was  a  very  small  tool,  seemingly  of  no  importance. 
One  of  the  devils  who  was  more  careful  and 
thoughtful  than  the  others  picked  this  up,  and 
noticed  that  the  price  was  higher  than  for  any  other. 
He  went  to  the  devil  and  inquired  the  reason. 

"  Why,  that,"  replied  the  devil,  "  is  the  most 


42  THESMILE 


valuable  instrument  I  have.  It  will  open  doors  to 
me  that  otherwise  would  be  completely  closed. 
No  one  thinks  it  belongs  to  me.  That  is  Dis- 
couragement." 

The  story  goes  on  further  to  say  that  the  price 
of  that  little  tool  was  so  great  that  it  is  still  in 
the  possession  of  the  devil. 

The  power  of  discontent  and  discouragement 
to  degrade  human  character  is  not  sufficiently 
appreciated,  nor  is  the  importance  of  triumphing 
over  disappointments  fully  realized. 

Some  great  writer  has  wisely  said  that  to  suc- 
ceed in  this  world  a  man  must  be  a  "  good  loser." 
That  is,  a  man  must  be  able  to  smile  after  the 
greatest  defeat.  . 

As  is  well  known,  one  of  the  greatest  leaders  of 
this  country,  who  had  performed  great  services  for 
the  nation,  when  defeated  for  the  presidency 
turned  against  his  friends,  became  dissatisfied 
with  life  and  died  of  a  broken  heart.  The  same 
has  been  true  of  two  other  men  nominated  for  the 
presidency.  They  were  unable  to  laugh  at  their 
defeat.  Had  any  one  of  these  men  been  able  to 
smile  he  would  have  received  merited  honor  from 
all  the  country.  Such  a  defeat  was  an  accident 
and  might  have  been  made  an  opportunity,  if  the 
men  had  been  able  to  rise  above  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  one  who  looks  out  smiling 
from  his  great  defeat  is  welcomed  in  every  com- 
pany both  by  those  who  voted  for  him  and  those 
who  voted  against  him.  The  smile  that  was  not 
quenched  by  defeat,  that  smile  that  arose  victo- 
rious over  it,  indicated  manhood  of  a  high  char- 
acter. A  man  who  can  smile  after  defeat  can 
never  be  defeated.  He  will  turn  what  may  seem 
the  worst  of  defeats  into  the  grandest  victory.  He 


SMILE   OR  FROWN 43 

who  is  able,  in  the  face  of  apparent  failure,  to  rise 
and  smile,  achieves  a  greater  victory  than  that  of 
being  elected  to  a  high  office. 

Such  failures  are  to  be  found  in  all  walks  of  life, 
rendered  such  by  some  very  important  defeat. 
The  same  defeat  on  the  contrary,  has  made  many 
men  and  has  given  them  a  greater  triumph. 

There  is  no  greater  sign  of  power  than  the 
ability  to  smile  and  change  the  point  of  view — 
change  the  plans  of  a  whole  life.  One  possessing 
such  ability  always  becomes  not  only  popular  but 
strong  in  his  character. 

Such  a  man,  a  defeated  candidate,  has  been 
called  to  lecture  all  over  the  country,  in  all  the 
great  schools.  He  has  received  many  more  invita- 
tions to  lecture  than  he  can  accept.  He  is  received 
everywhere  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 

Coming  to  a  great  university  to  lecture,  the  boys 
cheered  him  for  several  minutes.  It  happened 
to  be  the  day  after  a  national  election.  He  smiled 
at  them  and  said,  "  Why  should  you  cheer  me?  I 
was  not  elected  to  anything  yesterday." 

He  is  welcomed  by  every  class  of  men,  members 
of  all  parties,  because  he  has  preserved  the  genial, 
kindly  smile  that  indicates  the  greatness  of  the  man. 

Many  times  every  day  we  must  choose  whether 
we  are  to  smile  or  frown,  whether  we  are  to  smile 
or  whine;  whether  we  are  to  assume  a  positive, 
loving,  courageous  attitude  toward  the  events  of 
life, — toward  our  fellow-men — or  to  sink  into  a 
state  of  antagonism,  discouragement,  and  lack  of 
faith. 

"  Smile  and  the  world  smiles  with  you, 
Whine  and  you  whine  alone." 

Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox  wrote  "  laugh  "  instead 
of  "smile"  and  "weep"  instead  of  "whine;" 


44  THE   SMILE 


But  as  she  wrote  it  the  statement  is  not  true.  The 
popularity  of  such  words,  the  fact  that  they  may 
be  quoted  thousands  of  times  does  not  make  them 
true.  What  man  or  woman  do  you  meet  on  the 
street  who  does  not  have  a  more  serious  look  on 
account  of  Belgium,  Servia  and  Poland. 

The  innocent  sufferers  do  not  weep  alone.  All 
the  world  that  is  sane  weeps  with  those  who  suffer 
from  no  fault  of  their  own.  As  I  venture  to  correct 
the  lines  they  are  true,  universally  true. 

People  do  not  always  take  such  lines  exactly 
as  they  are  printed.  The  pessimism  of  the  original 
lines  is  not  realized  by  people  who  quote  them  and 
their  meaning  to  the  common  heart  is,  I  am  sure, 
what  is  here  printed.  Unconsciously  they  sub- 
stitute "  whine  "  for  "  weep."  Not  only  has  the 
writer  of  a  poem  poetic  license  but  the  reader 
also.  A  man  must  become  a  poet  to  appreciate 
poetry. 

The  whine  like  all  forms  of  sin  separates  one 
from  his  fellow- men.  !<  Whoso  finds  me  will  slay 
me,"  cried  Cain  when  he  was  made  to  realize  that 
he  was  a  murderer,  and  he  also  felt  that  he  was 
separated  from  God.  "  From  thy  face  shall  I  be 
hid,"  he  exclaimed  in  his  agony  and  he  was  right. 
A  whine  or  frown  or  scowl  or  a  grouch  of  any  kind 
separates  one  from  men  and  God. 

A  smile  on  the  contrary  expresses  sympathy. 
By  a  smile  one  comes  into  touch  with  others.  In 
its  very  nature  a  smile  is  a  recognition  of  others,  a 
sign  of  willingness  to  share  the  life  of  one's  fellow- 
men.  It  is  a  welcome  to  your  neighbor's  thought — 
a  signal  that  you  desire  to  commune  with  him. 

Fortunate,  indeed,  is  it  that  men  do  not  meet 
"  frown  "  with  "  frown  "  that  they  do  not  sym- 
pathetically participate  in  every  unmanly  whine. 


SMILE   OR  FROWN 46 

The  dignity  and  the  glory  of  the  race  is  seen  in    ^ 
the  fact  that  we  meet  smile  with  smile.    It  proves 
that  love  and  sympathy  are  held  as  something 
supreme  in  the  human  heart. 

The  tendency  to  reflect  the  expression  of  our 
fellow-beings  is  too  well  known  to  require  dis- 
cussion. If  a  friend  meets  us  with  a  smile,  we 
smile  back,  but  if  somebody  approaches  us  with 
an  angry  frown,  how  quickly  we  are  thrown  into  a 
corresponding  mood ! 

But  there  is  such  a  thing  as  holding  our  thinking 
on  a  higher  plane,  always  looking  out  with  love  and 
kindliness,  sympathy  and  compassion  toward 
everyone.  The  kindly  look  and  the  gentle  smile 
may  be  made  the  means  of  the  greatest  victories. 

Someone  may  dispute  this  and  say  that  in  a 
certain  condition  of  anger,  or  even  discourage- 
ment, it  is  impossible  to  smile.  That  depends 
upon  our  strength  of  character.  We  can  turn  our 
attention  in  any  direction  we  choose.  We  can 
look  toward  that  which  is  beautiful.  We  can 
choose  a  point  of  view  from  which  we  can  see  the 
absurdity  of  anger. 

The  smile  always  comes  from  looking  on  the 
bright  side,  the  side  that  is  right,  the  side  that  is 
infinite,  the  side  that  is  divine. 

While  the  smile  is  primarily  spontaneous,  though 
it  may  seem  as  natural  and  involuntary  as  any  act 
of  expression,  still,  we  can  choose  to  smile,  or  we 
can  repress  a  smile — we  can  crush  it  into  a  frown. 
Under  certain  conditions,  it  is  easier  to  frown  than 
to  smile — under  difficulties — when  insulted;  but 
if  we  can  smile,  we  have  gained  a  victory  over  the 
worst.  We  can  smile  as  if  we  were  saying  to  a 
person,  "  You  will  not  say  so  to-morrow  " ;  "  You 
do  not  really  think  so  ";  "It  is  not  your  real  self 


46  THESMILE 


that  is  speaking  " ;  "  You  will  be  sorry  in  a  few 
hours  " ;  "  Sometime  you  will  understand  me 
better,  and  know  that  what  you  have  said  is  un- 
just." Some  such  remark  as  these  is  implied  in 
the  smile  of  victory,  the  smile  that  denotes  that  a 
person  is  looking  upward.  Man  walks  in  the  direc- 
tion in  which  his  eyes  are  looking  if  he  walks  with 
ease.  The  smile  indicates  the  direction  in  which 
we  are  looking  and  that  we  are  looking  upward. 
We  are  looking  out  from  the  point  of  view  of  affec- 
tion and  love.  Before  us  there  are  two  roads.  The 
straight  and  narrow  road  leads  upward.  That  is 
the  direction  of  the  true  soul,  even  in  the  midst 
of  difficulties. 

The  broad  road  is  downward,  and  the  frown 
always  leads  that  way. 

The  ability  to  smile  under  most  trying  circum- 
stances is  a  measure  of  power. 


VI 
SIGN  OR  SYMBOL 

What  does  the  smile  mean  and  whence  comes 
its  meaning?  In  its  most  primitive  character,  as 
we  first  find  it  on  the  face  of  a  little  child,  it  means 
recognition  of  love.  It  means  the  joyous  accept- 
ance of  life.  It  means  a  realization  of  one's  own 
individuality,  the  affirmation  of  one's  own  identity. 
Looking  at  the  smile  as  a  language,  we  find  it 
to  be  a  sign,  not  a  symbol.  In  our  age,  symbols 
have  been  regarded  as  the  only  language.  That 
which  has  no  symbolic  value,  is  considered  un- 
worthy of  our  attention. 

The  importance  of  a  symbol  can  hardly  be  over- 
estimated. The  wireless  operator,  on  account  of  a 
universal  agreement  upon  a  symbol  of  three  letters, 
can  send  out  the  vibrations  which  make  known 
that  a  ship  is  in  danger,  thus  saving  thousands  of 
lives. 

It  is  through  words  as  symbols,  that  knowledge 
and  information  have  been  embodied  so  that  every- 
one may  read  and  understand. 
'••  Symbols  are  conventional ;  they  stand  for  ideas. 
By  them  men  can  convey  their  ideas  and  opinions. 
But,  shall  the  importance  of  signs  be  overlooked? 

The  sign  is  natural ;  it  is  universal ;  it  is  direct ;  it 
is  immediate.  It  is  a  simple  emanation ;  it  calls  for 
no  conventional  agreement.  It  is  a  straight  appeal 
to  human  instinct. 

Signs  appeal  to  both  eye  and  ear  at  the  same 
47 


48  THESMILE 


i/ 


time.  The  sign  to  the  ear  and  the  sign  to  the  eye, 
the  modulation  of  the  tone  and  the  action  must 
agree  in  their  testimony,  or  all  expression  is 
chaotic.  This  agreement  is  the  most  fundamental 
thing  in  all  expression. 

Can  we  not  see  that  the  sign  is  necessary  to  the 
interpretation  of  the  symbol?  Could  there  have 
been  a  symbol  without  a  sign? 

In  all  great  poetry  the  symbol  is  used  in  a  double 
sense,  not  only  as  a  symbol  but  also  as  a  sign.  A 
great  writer — a  great  master  of  style — uses  words 
in  such  a  way  that  they  become  more  than  mere 
symbols,  and  begin  to  live  and  breathe  with  some- 
thing of  the  character  of  signs. 

It  is  a  fundamental  law  of  all  true  expression 
that  the  sign  must  transcend  the  symbol,  that  a 
true  symbol  is  always  based  on  some  kind  of 
natural  sign. 

The  symbol  is  intellectual.  It  is  external, 
mechanical.  The  sign  can  manifest  deeper  con- 
ditions than  words  can  symbolize. 

How  poorly  do  words  express  emotions!  The 
sign  at  once  reveals  feeling  and  the  deepest  emo- 
tions in  such  a  way  that  they  are  read  by  all  men. 

A  symbol  is  the  result  of  purely  conventional 
agreement  and  is  subject  to  grammatical  rules. 

While  the  sign  is  definite,  and  may  stand  for  a 
specific  idea,  a  specific  impression,  it  reveals  the 
attitude  of  the  man,  the  elements  of  his  impres- 
sions, his  experiences. 

The  sign  is  natural  and  obeys  Nature's  laws  and 
is  filled  with  Nature's  own  !ife. 

The  smile  in  nature  cannot  be  separated  from 
the  individual.  It  is  never  like  that  of  the  cat  in 
Wonderland, — left,  while  the  cat  itself  vanishes. 
Words  are  symbols,  on  the  contrary,  or  such 


SIGN   OR   SYMBOL 49 

things  as  smiles  with  the  cat  gone.  They  may 
remain  as  a  reminder  only;  but  the  sign  must  be 
full  of  life.  The  smile  can  never  be  separated 
from  life,  it  never  can  be  disconnected  from  its 
cause,  it  cannot  be  printed;  art  alone  can  truly 
suggest  it.  The  smile  always  partakes  of  the  life 
and  spirit  that  manifests  it.  The  smile  may  be 
vague  in  representing  opinions  or  ideas;  but  it  is 
not  vague  in  its  revelation  of  character  of  the 
human  spirit.  Its  presentation  is  representative. 
It  gives  its  meaning  from  no  mere  agreement 
among  men ;  but  by  a  universal  law  founded  in  the 
nature  of  things. 

Have  you  never  tried  to  comfort  someone  in 
sorrow — for  example  a  mother  who  has  lost  her 
child?  If,  in  the  midst  of  your  struggles  to  comfort 
by  words,  some  neighbor  should  come  in  and  grasp 
the  sufferer  in  her  arms,  revealing  her  sympathy 
by  natural  signs,  then  you  would  feel  like  taking 
off  your  shoes,  for  the  ground  on  which  you  stand 
is  holy. 


vn 

MAN'S  ELEMENTAL  LANGUAGES 

We  find  that  man's  primary  languages  divide 
themselves  into  two  groups,  one  appealing  to  the 
ear,  and  the  other  to  the  eye.  Natural  signs  which 
appeal  to  the  eye,  we  call  action.  The  modulations 
of  the  voice,  the  inflection,  the  tone-color,  move- 
ments or  emotional  modifications  of  rhythm,  we 
call  vocal  expression.  Some  deny  the  dignity  of 
languages  to  these  two  but  each  group  discharges 
a  distinct  function  as  well  as  do  words.  By  words 
we  reveal  our  opinions  and  symbolize  our  ideas; 
by  tone  we  reveal  our  feelings,  our  degree  of  con- 
viction, our  degree  of  earnestness,  our  point  of 
view,  the  different  shades  and  degrees  of  emotion. 
By  action  the  character  of  the  speaker  himself  is 
shown.  Not  only  is  the  language  of  action  the 
first  language,  it  is  also  the  language  of  conditions. 
If  an  action  is  wrong  the  tones  of  the  voice  cannot 
be  right.  Action  reveals  not  the  impression  but 
the  effect  and  the  way  we  receive  the  impression. 
It,  therefore,  establishes  the  very  conditions  of  the 
color  of  the  voice,  the  modulations  of  tone.  Action 
itself  supports  all  the  other  languages.  It  is  the 
language  to  which  the  appeal  of  the  little  child  is 
made.  It  is  the  language  by  which  all  true  earnest- 
ness is  tested. 

Human  expression  is,  therefore,  threefold.  It 
consists  of  words,  tones  and  action.  The  two 
natural  languages,  though  appealing  to  totally 

50 


MAN'S  ELEMENTAL  LANGUAGES        61 

different  senses,  are  vitally  united  to  the  words  or 
symbols. 

Observe  closely  the  marvellous  unity  of  these 
three  languages.  They  are  co-ordinated.  They 
never  can  be  separated  completely  without  great 
loss.  Each  one  reveals  something  different  from 
the  others.  This  is  the  reason  why  they  coalesce 
into  an  organic  unity, — one  is  strong  where  the 
others  are  weak.  They  are  perfect  only  when 
united. 

Thus,  in  the  union  of  these  signs, — "  By  the 
mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses  every  word  is 
established." 

These  three  languages  show  simultaneously 
what  a  man  thinks,  what  he  feels  and  what  he  is. 
We  know  his  ideas,  his  opinions,  his  thoughts, 
best  by  his  words.  We  realize  his  convictions,  his 
emotions,  his  experiences  best  by  the  modulations 
of  his  voice,  and  we  know  his  character  and  his 
motives  best  through  his  actions. 

The  smile  belongs  of  course,  to  the  language  of 
action.  It  may  be  taken  as  a  type  of  all  action,  be- 
cause it  is  a  primitive,  elemental  and  universal 
characteristic  of  the  human  being.  Although  ac- 
tion has  never  been  adequately  explained,  and 
though  books  written  upon  action  are  among  the 
most  unsatisfactory  books  written  on  any  sub- 
ject, yet,  of  all  languages,  action  is  the  most 
directly  and  most  easily  read.  It  is  an  imme- 
diate appeal  to  instinct.  Can  we  find  a  for- 
eigner who  is  so  foreign  as  not  to  know  the 
meaning  of  a  smile?  The  fact  that  language  can- 
not symbolize  ideas  leads  many  to  disparage  it. 
For  this  very  reason,  however,  when  we  look  at  it 
from  its  primitive  character  as  a  sign,  we  find  it 
more  full  of  meaning  than  any  other  language  of 


62  THESMILE 


mankind.  Its  meaning  is  filled  with  more  force 
and  directness.  We  find  also  another  most  im- 
portant fact: — action  furnishes  the  most  adequate 
means  for  the  study  of  character.  It  is  the  most 
unconscious  of  languages  and  the  most  sponta- 
neous, and  belongs  to  the  whole  body;  hence  it 
reveals  motives,  conditions  and  attitudes  of  being 
at  which  other  modes  of  expression  merely  hint. 
The  smile  is  the  least  mechanical,  the  least  artifi- 
cial, the  least  objective  of  all  languages  unless  we 
except  the  modulations  of  the  voice,  which  may 
also  be  subjective. 

So  subjective  is  pantomimic  expression  that 
it  seems  completely  united  to  feeling.  It  can 
hardly  be  studied  and  certainly  it  cannot  be 
developed  apart  from  the  experience  that  causes 
it. 

Accordingly,  the  true  and  normal  smile  must  be 
realized  in  the  study  of  joy,  in  the  observation  of 
love  and  sympathy,  or  as  the  agent  of  the  positive 
emotions. 

Its  great  force  as  a  language  is  shown  by  its 
power  to  contradict  words. 

With  a  frown,  say  to  a  little  child,  "  Come  here, 
you  little  angel  " ;  then  with  a  smile  and  with  the 
consequent  involuntary  softening  of  the  tone,  say, 
"  Come  here,  you  little  rascal."  Here  the  sign 
contradicts  the  symbol,  and  the  child,  as  well  as 
everyone  else  will  take  the  sign  before  the 
symbol. 

Demosthenes,  according  to  tradition,  when 
asked  what  was  the  most  important  element  in 
speaking,  replied,  "  Action  " ;  when  asked  what 
was  the  second  most  important  element,  he  an- 
swered, "  Action,"  and  when  asked  the  third,  he 
still  answered,  "Action."  Action  has  been  so 


MA  N'S  ELEMENTAL  LANGUAGES.     53 

misunderstood  that  many  have  been  astounded  at 
this  statement  and  have  denied  that  Demosthenes 
ever  made  it,  or,  if  he  did,  they  think  that  he  meant 
something  different  from  pantomimic  expression. 
A  very  prominent  man  once  said  in  my  presence 
that  by  "  action  "  Demosthenes  meant  living  and 
doing  things.  After  many  years  of  studying  ex- 
pression, I  believe  that  Demosthenes  meant 
exactly  what  he  said.  He  restricted  the  statement 
in  order  to  emphasize  what  others,  possibly  even 
in  that  day,  misunderstood,  or  at  least  the  im- 
portance of  which  they  failed  to  appreciate. 

Certainly  action  is  not  appreciated  in  our  day. 
It  is  the  most  direct  of  all  languages, — the  most 
simple.  It  reveals  itself  through  the  whole  body ;  it 
appeals  to  the  eye  most  quickly  of  all  our  senses. 
It  is  not  local  like  a  pronounced  word.  It  expresses 
the  deepest  conditions  of  man's  being.  Without 
action,  such  voice  modulations  as  tone-color  and 
texture  are  impossible. 

Pantomime  precedes  speech.  It  shows  the  re- 
ceiving of  impressions.  Words  express  the  giving 
of  an  idea  or  concept ;  action  shows  the  beginning 
of  the  impression;  words  are  only  a  label  giving 
its  name  or  direction. 

Of  course  by  action  is  not  meant  gesture,  or 
some  "  signal  of  distress  "  by  the  hands  or  arms. 

True  action  is  as  simple  as  the  smile,  something 
as  vitally  connected  with  our  beings  as  the  simple 
expansion  of  the  body  or  movement  on  the  feet,  or 
any  action  directly  caused  by  experience. 

Pantomime  determines  even  the  conditions  of 
all  modulations  of  the  voice.  Without  action,  tone- 
color  would  be  impossible,  hence,  vocal  expression 
cannot  be  separated  from  pantomimic  expression. 
The  man  who  sneers  at  action  as  something  found 


64  THESMILE 


only  among  savages,  fails  to  comprehend  one  of  the 
deepest  characteristics  of  human  nature. 

Action  expresses  the  character  of  the  speaker. 
Real  earnestness  and  conviction  are  not  shown  by 
the  loudness  of  the  tone,  or  the  number  of  words, 
but  by  this  most  conditional  of  all  languages. 

Though  vocal  expression  is  regarded  by  many  as 
directly  and  vitally  connected  with  words,  yet  the 
tones  of  the  voice  are  really  more  vitally  united  to 
action  than  they  are  to  words.  It  is  the  diffusion 
of  feeling  throughout  the  body  that  not  only  pro- 
duces action  and  modulations  of  the  tones,  but 
colors  the  voice. 

Most  voice  modulations  are  dependent  on  action. 
When  one  tries  to  depend  merely  upon  words, 
or  the  modulations  of  the  tone,  speech  becomes 
mechanical  and  artificial. 

Inflection  reveals  the  attitude  of  the  mind  and 
discharges  a  more  intellectual  function.  Hence,  it 
is  more  closely  connected  with  words  than  is  tone- 
color. 

Inflection,  however,  is  a  gesture  of  the  voice  as  a 
significant  movement  of  the  hand  is  an  inflection 
of  the  body. 

It  is  difficult  or  impossible  to  make  a  good 
bodily  gesture  with  the  wrong  vocal  inflection — 
even  these  are  vitally  connected.  But  the  qual- 
ities of  the  voice  are  entirely  dependent,  not  upon 
the  gesture  but  upon  the  diffusion  of  emotion  into 
the  texture  of  the  body,  upon  the  expressive  at- 
titude of  all  parts  of  the  body  directly  related  and 
co-ordinated  with  the  sympathetic  retention  of  the 
breath.  Such  facts  show  us  that  a  man's  three 
languages  are  necessary  to  one  another.  No  one 
of  them  can  be  repressed  or  discarded  with  im- 
punity. Yet,  they  are  as  opposite  to  each  other  as 


MAN'S  ELEMENTAL  LANGUAGES        55 

a  man's  two  hands.  To  some,  the  two  hands  are 
exactly  alike,  and  they  are  more  alike  possibly  than 
any  other  two  objects  in  the  world;  yet  at  every 
point  they  are  directly  opposite.  Nothing  as  ugly 
as  two  right  hands  on  the  same  body  has  ever  been 
produced,  and  it  is  the  direct  opposition  in  their 
similarity  that  enables  them  to  come  together  in 
unity.  In  a  way,  each  of  these  three  languages, 
while  simple  and  expressive  of  the  same  thing,  re- 
veals a  different  phase  of  impression,  a  different 
aspect  of  human  life  and  experience,  and  because 
of  this  very  difference,  they  become  mutually 
necessary  and  can  be  co-ordinated  for  the  same 
ends. 

Because  each  language  says  something  no  one 
of  the  others  can  possibly  say,  their  unity  is  made 
possible  and  necessary. 

Pantomime  is  the  outflow  of  the  awakening  of 
thought.  It  manifests  the  inception  of  the  thought, 
not  the  finished  realization.  It  reveals  the  initia- 
tion, the  stimulation,  the  life  of  the  man  himself. 

In  teaching,  whenever  I  have  been  in  serious 
doubt  of  a  pupil's  needs,  I  have  always  studied  his 
pantomime.  That  is  a  language  that  never  lies ;  a 
language  that  is  most  unconscious  and  therefore 
most  vitally  expressive. 

Because  the  smile  is  not  a  symbol,  because  it  is 
not  an  objective  thing,  because  it  cannot  be  sep- 
arated from  the  man  and  printed  like  a  word, — it  is 
often  overlooked. 

This  very  separation  of  words  from  the  process 
of  thinking  may  make  a  word  the  emptiest  of  all 
things.  A  word,  a  phrase,  needs  to  be  interpreted 
by  the  living  voice.  The  smile,  the  sign  must  be 
restored  to  the  symbol,  or  the  symbol  will  be 
meaningless. 


66  THESMILE 


How  often  do  we  wrongly  quote  a  thought  from 
someone  by  missing  a  word?  But  still  more  fre- 
quently do  we  miss  the  natural  signs  he  used,  the 
action,  the  smile,  and  so  we  miss  his  experience 
and  the  spirit  with  which  he  spoke. 


vm 

DOES  A  SMILE  REPRESENT  OR  MANIFEST? 

Is  a  smile  representative  or  manifestative? 
There  are  two  modes  of  expression.  They  are 
found  in  both  tone  and  action,  but  we  see  them 
especially  marked  in  human  action.  Representa- 
tion is  objective,  descriptive  and  illustrative.  It  is 
deliberative.  Manifestation  on  the  other  hand,  is 
spontaneous,  frequently  unconscious.  It  never 
describes.  It  is  an  outward  sign  of  inner  activity, 
an  outward  revelation  or  emanation  of  something 
within.  Representative  action  belongs  more 
especially  to  the  hands — the  external  agents. 
Manifestation  belongs  to  all  bodily  agents.  The 
smile  is  a  characteristic  example  of  manifestation. 
It  is  only  a  mock  smile  when  one  man  employs  it 
to  represent  the  smile  of  another.  In  all  expres- 
sion, manifestation  must  transcend  representation, 
and  the  smile  possibly  illustrates  this. 

The  tendency  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of 
representation  in  action  is  a  great  mistake.  Action 
has  been  regarded,  not  only  as  representative,  but 
imitative,  objective  and  external. 

The  smile  should  teach  us  that  signs  are  pri- 
marily manifestative.  Manifestation  is  the  motion 
of  emotion,  the  texture  of  a  condition,  the  position 
of  a  disposition,  the  modulation  of  a  mode.  Its 
cause  always  lies  within.  Any  effort  to  give  it  the 
character  of  a  symbol  is  an  affectation  and  vitiates 
its  true  nature.  An  attempt,  such  as  has  so  often 

67 


58  THESMILE 


been  made,  to  make  all  action  stand  for  something 
external,  develops  weakness  and  artificiality. 

Manifestation  reveals  directly  and  immediately 
man's  degree  of  realization,  his  deepest  expe- 
riences, the  primary  habits  of  his  life. 

It  is  because  action  is  primarily  manifestative 
that  the  relation  of  signs  to  symbols  is  so  impor- 
tant. Symbols,  being  representative,  may  become 
purely  objective  and  cold  in  comparison  with  the 
living,  manifestative  sign.  A  speech  or  play,  even 
a  great  poem,  implies  a  living  voice,  which  can  be 
interpreted  only  by  living,  manifestative  signs 
such  as  the  modulations  of  voice  and  body.  Man- 
ifestation must  always  transcend  representation 
in  perfect  and  artistic  expression. 

Here  we  see  also  the  true  nature  of  delivery. 
This  is  a  supplementing  of  words  as  representative 
symbols  of  man's  highest  embodiment  of  ideas, 
with  manifestative  signs  of  feeling,  of  disposition, 
of  the  inner  spirit,  which  is  found  in  the  highest 
poetry  and  literature. 

Manifestation  and  representation  must  both  be 
found  in  true  unity  to  have  perfect  human  expres- 
sion in  any  form,  in  oratory,  in  acting  or  in  literary 
interpretation.  Even  highest  literature  itself  em- 
ploys and  suggests  this  union. 

"Our  human  speech  is  naught, 
Our  human  testimony  false,  our  fame 
And  human  estimation  words  and  wind. 
Why  take  the  artistic  way  to  prove  so  much? 
Because,  it  is  the  glory  and  good  of  Art, 
That  Art  remains  the  one  way  possible 
Of  speaking  truth,  to  mouths  like  mine,  at  least. 
How  look  a  brother  in  the  face  and  say 
'  Thy  right  is  wrong,  eyes  hast  thou,  yet  art  blind, 
Thine  ears  are  stuffed  and  stopped,  despite  their  length, 
And,  oh,  the  foolishness  thou  countest  faith ! ' 


REPRESENT   OR   MANIFEST 59 

Say  this  as  silvery  as  tongue  can  troll — 

The  anger  of  the  man  may  be  endured, 

The  shrug,  the  disappointed  eyes  of  him 

Are  not  so  bad  to  bear — but  here's  the  plague, 

That  all  this  trouble  comes  of  telling  truth, 

Which  truth,  by  when  it  reaches  him,  looks  false, 

Seems  to  be  just  the  thing  it  would  supplant, 

Nor  recognizable  by  whom  it  left; 

While  falsehood  would  have  done  the  work  of  truth. 

But  Art, — wherein  man  nowise  speaks  to  men, 

Only  to  mankind, — Art  may  tell  a  truth 

Obliquely,  do  the  thing  shall  breed  the  thought, 

Nor  wrong  the  thought,  missing  the  mediate  word. 

So  may  you  paint  your  picture,  twice  show  truth, 

Beyond  mere  imagery  on  the  wall, — 

So,  note  by  note,  bring  music  from  your  mind, 

Deeper  than  ever  the  Adante  dived, — 

So  write  a  book  shall  mean,  beyond  the  facts, 

Suffice  the  eye,  and  save  the  soul  besides." 

True  art  is  not  merely  symbolic.  It  is  the  smile 
of  the  human  soul.  If  it  has  not  the  character  of 
the  smile  it  will  be  mechanical,  artificial  and  will 
never  move  the  world. 

The  sign  manifests  the  life  of  the  individual.  On 
one  hand  the  smile  may  be  so  used  as  to  embody 
the  thought  of  a  thousand  years ;  on  the  other  hand, 
it  may  die  the  moment  it  is  born,  but  it  shows  the 
love  of  man,  the  real  pulsating  motives  behind  his 
words.  The  greater  the  writer, — the  greater  the 
artist,  the  more  definitely  does  he  suggest  the 
necessity  and  character  of  the  true  companion, 
the  sign. 

Those  who  sneer  at  action  and  say  it  belongs 
only  to  the  savage  part  of  humanity,  and  hence 
must  be  repressed  as  something  outgrown,  should 
study  the  smile.  How  ridiculous  must  their  opin- 
ion appear  when  we  consider  the  significance  of  the 
simplest  facial  changes  or  bodily  expansions,  or 
the  simple  attitudes  of  the  head  or  motions  of  the 


60  THESMILE 


hand.  What  would  the  intercourse  of  human 
beings  become  were  it  not  for  the  constant  play 
of  the  face  and  the  subtle  actions  and  positions  of 
all  parts  of  the  body. 

The  tendency  to  make  all  action  of  the  body  and 
even  voice  modulation,  representative,  descriptive, 
or  symbols  rather  than  signs,  is  one  of  the  greatest 
mistakes  ever  made  in  human  education.  De- 
scriptive expression  lacks  true  character  of  the 
deepest  expression.  It  discards  the  fundamental 
facts  of  modulations  of  being  through  voice  and 
body. 

Human  words,  great  as  they  are,  necessary  as 
they  are,  to  express  human  ideas,  opinions  and 
thoughts,  fall  short  in  the  manifestation  of  human 
feeling. 

We  find  here  an  indication  of  the  necessity  of 
human  art.  Every  art  expresses  something  that 
no  other  art  can  say.  Unless  it  can  do  this,  it  is 
not  an  art  at  all.  Human  language  is  as  complex 
as  the  human  faculties  and  experiences  which 
are  the  cause  of  all  expression.  This  complexity 
shows  the  necessity  of  the  artistic  point  of  view; 
art  is  a  necessity  of  man's  higher  faculties. 

The  higher  experiences  must  not  only  transform 
symbols  into  figures,  but  they  imply  the  awakening 
of  higher  realization  and  require  certain  modula- 
tions of  voice  and  body  to  express  them.  In  the 
same  way  all  the  arts  are  necessary  to  reveal  the 
deep  causes  of  human  experiences  and  give  higher 
interpretation  to  human  language.  This  has  been 
well  shown  in  Browning's  "The  Ring  and  the 
Book."  When  a  man  is  inwardly  stirred  and  sin- 
cerely speaks  out,  then  his  art  rises  to  poetry  or  to 
the  dignity  of  a  sign  or  a  smile.  "  The  look,"  said 
Balzac,  "  the  voice,  the  respiration  and  the  attitude 


REPRESENT   OR   MANIFEST 61 

or  walk  are  identical.  But  as  power  has  not  been 
given  to  man  to  stand  guard  at  once  over  these 
four  different  simultaneous  expressions  of  his 
thought,  watch  that  one  which  speaks  but  the 
truth,  and  you  will  know  the  whole  man."  Do  we 
not  all  agree  with  Emerson  when  he  says  "  Nature 
tells  every  secret  once?  Yes,  but  in  man  she  tells 
it  all  the  time,  by  form,  attitude,  gesture,  mien, 
face  and  parts  of  the  face,  and  by  the  whole  action 
of  the  machine." 


IX 
GESTURE,  POSITION  OR  BEARING 

To  understand  any  habitual  and  more  or  less 
permanent  expression  of  the  face  we  must  study 
further  into  the  nature  of  action.  One  of  the  most 
important  distinctions  or  divisions  of  pantomimic 
expression  is  found  in  its  degree  of  permanence. 

Pantomime  may  be  divided  into  gesture,  attitude 
and  bearing. 

A  gesture  is  an  expressive  motion.  It  expresses 
something  transitory,  some  feeling  that  is  on  the 
surface. 

An  attitude  expresses  a  condition,  an  emotion 
that  dominates  us  for  a  time;  a  feeling  that  lays 
hold  of  our  deeper  nature;  a  feeling  that  is  not 
local  or  superficial,  but  one  that  permeates  our 
whole  being. 

A  bearing  is  an  action  that  expresses  that  which 
is  more  permanent ;  that  which  has  become  a  part 
of  our  character;  it  is  the  permanent  result  of 
some  emotion  that  we  have  frequently  cherished, 
the  result  of  habitual  emotions  and  attitudes. 
The  bearing  thus  expresses  character. 

Every  experience  we  pass  through  tends  to 
create  a  condition  favorable  to  its  return.  Feelings 
that  recur  frequently,  therefore,  establish  certain 
tendencies  or  bearings  which  underlie  all  other 
expressions,  whether  gestures  or  attitudes. 

As  a  rule  the  individual  is  unconscious  of  his 
bearing.  It  has  become  such  a  permanent  part 

62 


GESTURE,  POSITION  OR  BEARING     63 

of  him  that  he  becomes  aware  of  it  only  occasion- 
ally, and  by  comparing  himself  with  other  men ;  or 
by  the  intuition  which  lies  back  of  consciousness 
of  his  higher  possibilities  or  ideals.  Here  we  find 
that  a  study  of  action  reveals  to  us  the  deepest 
process  of  our  development,  a  process  that  goes 
on  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  By  turning  away 
from  certain  experiences,  and  cherishing  those 
that  are  opposite  or  higher,  we  begin  the  process  of 
our  more  ideal  development. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  may  be  said  regarding 
education  as  an  acquisition  of  knowledge,  even  as 
the  attainment  of  culture,  there  is  a  deeper  proc- 
ess,— the  formation  of  character.  That  is  the 
highest  part  of  education.  All  educational  training 
must  centre  in  this  process  of  establishing  right 
habits  as  expressed  in  normal  bearings — right  dis- 
positions and  motives,  right  tendencies  in  being 
and  their  expression  in  the  bearing  of  the 
body. 

There  is  a  tendency  in  our  day  for  the  young  man 
to  leap  to  his  profession,  to  despise  the  college 
course  and  turn  to  the  professional  school.  The 
young  man  is  more  ambitious  to  become  a  lawyer 
or  a  doctor  or  a  business  man  than  he  is  to  develop 
his  personality. 

Bearing  is  seldom  thought  of  in  relation  to 
speaking.  The  speaker  in  fact  is  apt  to  think  of 
that  which  is  most  emotional  and  most  superficial. 
Speakers,  we  find  as  a  rule,  have  more  faith  in 
gestures  than  in  attitudes. 

If,  however,  we  observe  carefully,  we  may  note 
that,  although  the  gestures  may  be  very  significant 
and  attitudes  still  more  so,  it  is  the  bearing  which 
possesses  the  deepest  and  highest  expressive 
value.  A  transitory  feeling  is  less  important  than 


64  THESMILE 


an  emotion  that  remains  for  a  time,  and  even  this 
is  less  important  than  those  feelings  which  have 
become  vital  motives,  a  real  part  of  the  permanent 
character. 

Almost  alone  of  all  languages,  a  man's  nature  is 
expressed  by  his  action  and  especially  by  his 
bearing  which  transcends  all  action. 

Is  a  smile  an  attitude,  a  gesture  or  a  bearing? 
It  may  be  any  one  of  them.  Certain  giggles  and 
grimaces  are  gestures,  whereas  a  loving  smile  may 
express  the  attitude  of  a  man. 

The  most  important  element  of  the  smile,  how- 
ever, is  that  which  is  usually  entirely  overlooked, 
a  certain  permanent  attitude  toward  life,  toward 
others,  a  kindly  bearing  which  may  not  be  recog- 
nized as  a  smile,  but  if  studied  may  be  taken  as 
a  condition  favorable  to  a  smile. 

That  the  condition  may  become  a  bearing  may 
be  easily  proved  by  a  few  illustrations. 

One  of  my  most  delightful  remembrances  is 
of  an  occasional  glimpse  of  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes  upon  the  street.  One  day  I  came  upon 
him  looking  into  a  store  window,  with  all  the 
smiling  interest  of  a  boy.  I  stood  at  a  distance  and 
gazed  on  him  with  admiration. 

A  few  times  I  have  seen  him  crossing  the  Com- 
mon. He  seemed  to  be  one  animated  smile  from 
the  crown  of  his  head  to  the  soles  of  his  feet.  The 
smile  seemed  to  be  there  always  as  a  bearing.  It 
was  a  smile  in  repose.  There  was  no  grin,  that 
horrible  mockery  of  a  smile.  It  was  the  deep, 
genuine,  simple  revelation  of  the  heart  of  a  child 
which  he  was  able  to  keep  through  all  the  serious 
work  of  a  man's  life. 

By  invitation  of  one  of  my  students  I  once 
attended  a  lecture  on  anatomy  by  Dr.  Holmes  at 


GESTURE,  POSITION   OR  BEARING     65 

the  Harvard  Medical  School.  It  was  one  of  his 
most  serious  lectures.  There  was  no  joke  in  it 
from  first  to  last.  The  subject  was  the  larynx, 
and  the  young  medical  friend  who  accompanied  me 
thought  I  would  be  particularly  interested  in  the 
subject.  How  happy  every  student  in  that  class 
seemed!  I  saw  the  eager  faces  all  about  me. 
The  Professor's  remarks  were  expressive  of  cheer- 
fulness and  sympathy.  I  wanted  to  see  if  he  had 
the  professional  air  that  most  lecturers  have;  the 
mask  which  the  minister  puts  on  when  he  ascends 
to  the  pulpit ;  that  the  teacher  usually  assumes  be- 
fore his  class;  that  the  employer  wears  when  he 
goes  into  the  factory.  There  was  nothing  of  the 
kind, — only  a  genuine,  simple,  hearty,  loving 
bearing.  I  saw  the  man  himself  with  a  cheerful- 
ness so  deep  that  it  became  seriousness.  It  was 
the  same  smile  he  wore  when  he  stood  up  before 
an  audience  once  and  said : 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  am  here  to  fill  the 
place  of  Judge  Gray.  Now  you  all  know  that  is 
impossible.  All  I  can  hope  to  do  is  to  rattle  around 
in  it  a  little." 

Judge  Gray,  as  is  well-known,  was  a  very  large 
man.  He  and  Phillips  Brooks  and  Bishop  Mc- 
Vicker,  who  were  all  unusually  large  men,  were 
once  walking  through  a  village  in  Europe.  The 
natives  gazed  at  them  in  astonishment  and  in- 
quired whence  they  came.  Someone  replied, 
"  Those  are  Americans ;  they  are  rather  small  men 
in  their  own  country." 

Another  story  is  told  of  these  three  men  who 
were  once  in  London.  A  man  was  lecturing  on 
the  degeneracy  of  the  race.  Among  his  illustra- 
tions he  said,  "  Look  at  the  Americans.  They  are 
thin  and  lank,  and  small  in  stature."  At  the  close 


66  THESMILE 


of  the  lecture  there  was  a  chance  for  questions. 
One  of  the  Americans  arose  and  said : 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen:  I  am  an  American  and 
you  can  see  for  yourself  if  I  am  an  illustration  of 
the  gentleman's  principles."  Another  of  the  fa- 
mous trio  then  arose  and  said,  "  I  also  am  an  Amer- 
ican. You  can  take  me  as  another  specimen." 
When  the  third  man  arose  the  situation  was  too 
much  for  the  audience  and  the  laughter  was  un- 
controllable. 

I  once  heard  Dr.  Holmes  introduce  Matthew 
Arnold.  "  I  am  reminded,"  he  said,  "  of  two 
Americans,  a  big  man  and  a  little  man,  who  met 
a  mob  in  London.  The  big  man  gave  his  coat  to 
the  little  man  to  hold  while  he  demonstrated  his 
strength  in  subduing  the  mob.  The  mob  gave 
three  cheers  for  the  big  man ;  then  someone  cried, 
'  Three  cheers  for  the  little  man  who  held  the  coat.' 
Now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  the  man  who  was  to 
hold  the  coat  to-night  was  Reverend  Phillips 
Brooks." 

Then  there  was  another  noble  character — Dr. 
Edward  Everett  Hale.  Whoever  saw  him  crossing 
the  Common,  or  walking  along  Tremont  Street  to 
the  Lend-a-Hand  office  without  feeling  a  thrill  of 
joy?  His  countenance  was  expanded  even  when 
he  seemed  to  be  thinking  over  some  deep  problem. 
He  felt  happiness  in  all  that  lay  about  him — an 
interest  in  every  human  being. 

I  once  heard  him  tell  about  passing  two  girls  in 
front  of  the  old  Public  Library.  He  overheard  one 
of  them  say,  "  Look  at  that  bright,  beautiful  room. 
I  wonder  if  it  is  a  club  and  what  kind  of  people  go 
in  there."  He  said,  "  I  am  not  accustomed  to 
speak  to  ladies  on  the  street,  but  I  broke  my  rule 
for  once.  I  stepped  up  to  the  girls  and  said, '  That 


GESTURE,   POSITION   OR  BEARING     67 

building  is  open  to  anybody  and  everybody.  There 
is  no  person  who  walks  the  streets  of  Boston  who 
will  not  find  welcome  there.'  ' 

In  his  statue  in  the  Public  Garden,  his  benignant 
smile  is  lacking.  Possibly  it  was  too  much  for 
human  art  to  catch  and  reproduce  the  beaming, 
loving  seriousness  of  that  face. 

However,  the  representation  may  be  a  little 
more  successful  than  the  horrible  burlesque  of 
Phillips  Brooks  near  Trinity  Church,  which  is  the 
worst  caricature  of  a  joyous,  smiling,  loving  face 
that  has  ever  been  thrust  upon  an  innocent  pub- 
lic. 

I  never  pass  Trinity  Church  without  steeling  my 
face  and  looking  off  at  a  distance  that  I  may  be 
spared  the  sight  of  that  monstrosity. 

Modern  art  contends  that  the  smile  must  be 
necessarily  avoided  or  it  will  become  a  mere 
simper  and  destroy  all  dignity. 

Does  not  the  art  of  our  day  acknowledge  in  such 
a  statement  its  own  weakness? 

How  long  did  Leonardo  da  Vinci  work  to  master 
the  smile  of  Mona  Lisa? 

Observe  also  the  wonderful  smile  on  the  por- 
traits of  Franz  Hals.  These  are  the  deepest  bear- 
ings of  the  character  and  in  no  case  do  they  de- 
tract from  its  dignity. 

Sargent  has  worked  hard  to  master  the  tech- 
nique of  this  great  artist  and  he  is  regarded  the 
greatest  technician  of  the  present  day;  but  he 
falls  short  of  Franz  Hals  in  the  mastery  of  the 
smile. 

Recent  art  has  made  great  advances,  especially 
in  landscape.  The  smile  of  the  fields  and  the 
skies  is  better  rendered  than  ever  before.  But 
why  neglect  the  expression  of  the  human  body? 


68  THESMILE 


Why  overlook  the  transcendent  glory  of  the  human 
face? 

After  all  its  great  advances,  is  our  art  lacking 
in  the  ability  to  portray  such  an  elemental  expres- 
sion as  a  smile?  Has  it  failed,  after  all,  to  attain 
the  simple  power  and  dignity  of  the  Greeks?  Is  it 
still  too  external,  mechanical  and  exhibitional  to 
rise  to  the  dignity  of  the  great  masters? 

What  art  school  really  studies  the  expression  of 
the  human  countenance?  What  art  student  ever 
discriminated  between  gesture,  attitude  and  bear- 
ing, or  even  knew  enough  about  expression  to 
know  that  there  are  such  things?  The  modern 
ignorance  of  human  expression  is  so  great  that 
it  extends  even  to  our  artists. 

The  great  art  school  is  yet  to  come :  an  institu- 
tion that  will  study  every  phase  of  human  expres- 
sion; one  that  will  recognize  that  the  student  of 
only  one  art  becomes  narrow,  opinionated  and 
artificial;  that  to  be  only  a  painter  is  not  to  be  an 
artist.  A  sculptor  or  a  performer  on  a  musical 
instrument  may  have  expert  technique  and  yet  be 
purely  perfunctory.  He  only  is  an  artist  who  is 
able  to  see,  as  the  great  masters  saw,  expression 
in  its  different  forms. 

Expression  is  far  deeper  and  broader  than  any  of 
its  modes,  however  important  these  may  be.  A 
mere  elocutionist  is  no  better  than  a  mere  actor, 
a  mere  pianist  or  a  mere  painter. 

Why  can  art  never  have  all  the  dignity,  all  the 
seriousness,  all  the  weight,  all  the  faith  and  love 
of  the  human  soul  embodied  in  the  smile?  Who 
ever  heard  of  an  art  school  studying  a  smile  and 
its  meaning,  and  trying  to  realize  its  beauty? 

Once  in  New  York  I  saw  the  crowd  staring  at  a 
man  with  flowing  white  hair  and  a  soft  hat,  who 


GESTURE,  POSITION   OR  BEARING      69 

was  passing  along  Broadway.  It  was  Henry  Ward 
Beecher.  His  beaming  smile  of  sympathy  seemed 
to  be  an  emanation  of  intense  joy.  His  whole 
face  seemed  to  express  his  pleasure  in  the  doings 
of  ordinary  men. 

Another  remarkable  face,  which  was  a  delight 
to  everyone  who  looked  upon  it,  was  that  of  Joseph 
Jefferson.  The  simplicity, of  his  character,  and  his 
childlike  love  were  in  his  countenance.  Every 
feature  seemed  permeated  with  the  spirit  of  a 
smile,  joy  and  contentment,  love  and  admiration 
for  nature  and  his  fellow-men. 

It  was  not  difficult  for  a  smile  to  appear  and  run 
instantly  all  over  such  a  face.  The  smile  seemed 
to  be  hiding  beneath  his  features.  To  print  one 
of  his  stories  never  satisfies  one  who  heard  him 
tell  it. 

Once  when  about  to  buy  a  farm  in  New  Jersey 
he  asked  the  owner  whether  the  water  would  not 
all  evaporate  through  such  gravelly  soil.  The  old 
farmer  replied  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  soil  would 
not  only  hold  the  water,  but  would  draw  water  by 
something  which  from  the  farmer's  lips  sounded 
like  "  caterpillary  attraction."  In  telling  a  story, 
Jefferson  never  laughed.  His  countenance  only 
beamed  with  the  spirit  of  joy  and  laughter.  You 
felt  laughter  not  only  as  an  attitude  but  more  as  a 
perpetual  bearing,  showing  a  joyous  outlook  upon 
life, — a  point  of  view  full  of  affection  and  tender- 
ness for  everything  and  everybody. 

Such  examples  as  Henry  Ward  Beecher  on 
Broadway,  Phillips  Brooks,  Edward  Everett  Hale 
and  Dr.  Holmes  crossing  Boston  Common ;  Jeffer- 
son, Gladstone  in  London,  John  Bright  in  Man- 
chester indicate  how  certain  men  may  wear,  in 
their  ordinary  intercourse  with  their  fellow-men,  a 


70  THESMILE 


smile  which  expresses  a  deep  childlike  trust  that, 
as  Plato  puts  it,  "  the  eternal  is  true  and  good." 

This  habitual  bearing  must  be  carefully  dis- 
tinguished from  any  affected  attitudes  of  the  face. 

The  true  bearing  can  be  seen  only  when  the 
man  is  alone  or  in  his  home  or  among  his  most 
familiar  friends,  for  a  bearing  is  always  involun- 
tary and  unconscious. 

Some  men  in  business  affect  a  cast-iron  un- 
changing smile  which  is  the  same  for  all  occasions. 
You  feel  that  it  is  not  a  true  bearing  but  a  mere 
affectation  based  on  selfishness.  You  feel  that 
they  are  only  trying  to  bias  your  judgment  to  get 
your  money. 

The  smile,  even  when  it  is  a  bearing,  is  full  of 
life  and  vigor.  It  changes  in  all  sorts  of  ways,  it 
kindles  with  another's  thought,  is  always  sym- 
pathetic, is  never  dominating  but  based  on  love. 
You  find  it  is  all  your  own.  Certainly  there  is  not 
the  least  affectation  about  it.  The  true  smile,  as  a 
bearing,  seems  ready  for  communion,  for  enjoy- 
ment. It  suggests  a  spirit  looking  for  good  things, 
for  beautiful  things ;  looking  for  somebody  to  help, 
somebody  with  whom  he  can  share  the  joys  of  life. 
The  right  kind  of  smile,  born  of  a  sympathetic 
attitude,  born  of  true  gladness  at  meeting  every 
stranger,  is  one  of  the  fundamental  requisites  of 
all  truly  great  men. 

Some  assume  a  smile  when  in  society.  Every- 
one feels  that  this  is  unsatisfactory.  One  has  an 
intuition  that  this  is  not  the  habitual,  daily  smile 
of  the  individual,  but  is  involuntarily  forced  beyond 
the  real  heart's  feeling.  This  forced  smile,  or  pre- 
tence of  being  pleased,  is  one  of  the  great  causes 
of  the  degradation  and  the  superficiality  of  human 
character. 


GESTURE,  POSITION  OR  BEARING      71 

Of  course  every  person  should  be  pleased  to 
meet  his  fellow-men,  but  this  pleasure  can  be 
easily  forced  and  pretended  when  it  is  not  the 
real  feeling.  Here  we  find  the  very  basis,  the 
very  start  of  superficiality  and  hypocrisy.  Many 
assume  an  artificial  and  affected  smile  in  the 
attempt  to  appear  at  ease.  But  it  is  only  the  love 
and  joy  and  a  generous  sharing  in  the  life  of  others, 
expressed  in  a  certain  emanation  in  the  face,  a 
readiness  to  smile,  that  puts  one's  self  and  others 
at  ease.  We  achieve  ease  of  bearing  only  when  we 
are  perfectly  honest  and  direct,  when  we  have 
learned  to  respect  both  the  highest  and  the  lowest 
as  members  of  one  great  family. 

The  antithesis  of  ease  is  awkwardness.  It  is 
awkwardness  that  is  most  feared  by  the  society 
woman.  One  of  them  has  said,  "  Awkwardness  is 
never  forgiven  in  this  world  or  any  other." 

May  we  not  learn  a  lesson  regarding  awkward- 
ness from  the  study  of  the  smile? 

It  is  through  the  smile  that  awkwardness  first 
vanishes.  Awkwardness  is  born  of  fear, — the 
fear  of  doing  the  wrong  thing.  It  results  from  not 
feeling  at  home,  from  not  being  able  to  come  into 
touch  with  others.  The  true  smile  expresses 
grace  and  repose. 


X 

THE  SMILE  AND  BEAUTY 

We  here  encounter  a  very  important  question. 
Why  do  people  wear  such  serious  faces  on  the 
street?  Someone  will  say,  "  Because  life  is  seri- 
ous." "  Therefore  you  see,"  they  continue,  "  the 
superficiality  of  the  smile.  No  sensible  person 
goes  around  with  a  grin  on  his  face.  When  one 
happens  to  smile  to  himself  on  the  street,  he  is 
laughed  at.  Life  is  serious,  thus  men  demand 
that  the  habitual  attitude  of  the  face  should  be 
solemn." 

Is  there  no  explanation  of  the  fact  that  the  atti- 
tude of  discouragement  and  the  attitude,  which  is 
almost  a  frown  and  certainly  expresses  discourage- 
ment, is  the  conventional  attitude  worn  on  the 
street?  Is  this  a  social  requirement?  Is  it  that 
life  is  so  filled  with  gloom  that  such  a  vinegar 
aspect  has  become  general?  Or  is  it  fear?  Is  it 
because  a  man  feels  he  has  enemies?  Is  it  lack 
of  sympathy?  Is  it  because  the  average  man  in 
the  midst  of  his  illusions  allows  negative  condi- 
tions to  make  their  home  in  his  heart  and  face? 

He  does  brighten  up  for  a  moment  when  he 
meets  a  friend.  Sometimes  the  smile  lasts  for  a 
whole  block,  then  he  suddenly  thinks  someone  is 
laughing  at  him,  and  gives  the  corners  of  his  mouth 
a  jerk  downward  into  their  accustomed  gloom  and 
gradually  allows  the  serious  mood  which  expresses, 
to  use  a  phrase  which  Kipling  has  called  detest- 
able,—" The  battle  of  life."  Why  should  we  re- 

72 


THE   SMILE  AND   BEAUTY 73 

press  all  our  better  feelings  merely  because  we 
are  in  public  or  in  the  company  of  strangers?  Con- 
ventional politeness  demands  that  a  stranger  be 
treated  as  a  superior.  The  moment  he  speaks  to 
you  on  the  street  you  give  him  your  attention  and 
bow  with  deference,  direct  him  kindly  or  even  go 
with  him,  if  necessary,  to  point  out  the  way. 

Once,  while  walking  alone  through  the  Forest 
of  Fontainebleau,  trying  to  find  the  village  of 
Barbazon  where  the  great  artists  Rousseau, 
Millet  and  others  had  lived,  I  inquired  the  way  of  a 
French  gentleman  who  was  on  horseback.  I  saw 
from  his  smile  how  difficult  was  the  task.  I  asked 
him  to  give  me  general  direction,  and  this  he  indi- 
cated to  me  kindly  and  carefully. 

I  trudged  on,  feeling  grateful  for  such  careful 
instructions.  At  length  I  came  to  a  point  where  it 
seemed,  a  dozen  roads  branched  from  one  little 
circle.  As  I  stood  in  doubt,  wondering  which  road 
to  take,  the  same  gentleman  galloped  up,  waved 
his  hand  toward  the  one  I  was  to  take,  bowed 
and  rode  away. 

Once  on  a  hasty  trip  through  old  Heidelberg, 
I  felt  I  was  near  the  old  University  and  must  see 
the  place  where  so  many  great  men  had  taught. 
My  friends  were  in  a  hurry,  so  we  accosted  the 
only  person  near  us,  a  passing  lady,  and  asked 
her  for  directions.  She  motioned  for  us  to  follow. 
Possibly  our  broken  German  indicated  that  she 
would  not  be  understood  even  if  she  should  ex- 
plain. Noticing  that  she  turned  out  of  her  way, 
we  tried  to  apologize  and  asked  her  not  to  trouble 
herself.  She  shook  her  head  and  hurried  on.  At 
a  corner  she  suddenly  waved  her  hand  toward  the 
university  buildings  and  was  gone  before  we  had 
time  to  thank  her. 


74  THESMILE 


An  American  and  his  wife  were  once  dining  in  a 
restaurant  on  a  Parisian  boulevard.  Suddenly  the 
lady  fainted.  Her  husband  picked  her  up  in  his 
arms  and  carried  her,  as  best  he  could,  across  the 
sidewalk,  motioning  to  a  cab.  A  passing  stranger 
saw  him,  ran,  brought  the  cab,  and  helped  place 
the  lady  in  it.  When  the  American  turned  to 
thank  the  stranger,  he  caught  sight  of  him  lifting 
his  hat  with  a  kind  smile  as  he  disappeared  in  the 
crowd.  They  never  met  before  or  afterwards,  but 
how  such  a  look  lingers  in  the  memory ! 

Such  kind  acts  occur  in  every  nation  and  every 
community.  They  are  beautiful  and  are  recog- 
/  nized  as  beautiful.  Why  should  we  not  cultivate 
a  more  kindly  attitude  toward  men,  and  the  smile, 
expressing  a  readiness  to  do  such  deeds,  instead 
of  that  cold,  severe,  critical  bearing,  which  is  con- 
sidered appropriate  for  the  street? 

Does  the  conventional  gloomy  face  really  ex- 
press the  spirit  of  the  human  heart?  It  certainly 
does  not  express  man's  aspirations  or  the  ideal 
toward  which  he  is  striving.  Do  men  habitually 
hide  their  better  selves?  Do  they  conceal  what 
they  are  trying  to  be?  Is  a  solemn  face  a  mere 
conventionality? 

This  conventional,  ironclad  face  is  certainly  not 
beautiful.  People  will  pose  before  a  glass  and 
carefully  arrange  their  hair  and  examine  critically 
every  article  of  dress  to  appear  to  others  as  beau- 
tiful as  possible.  We  all  know  that  there  is  no 
greater  ambition  with  many  people  than  to  appear 
beautiful  before  others.  Then  why  neglect  the 
greatest  source  of  beauty?  Why  daub  the  face 
with  poison  and  neglect  the  smile?  True  beauty 
is  not  regularity  of  feature  or  softness  of  the  skin. 

But,  alas!  how  many  regard  beauty  as  only 


THE   SMILE  AND   BEAUTY 75 

"  skin  deep."  True  beauty  belongs  to  the  soul. 
It  is  created  out  of  the  affections,  the  sympathies, 
the  emotions  and  the  attitude  toward  life. 

"  Quite  the  ugliest  face  I  ever  saw,"  says  Whit- 
tier,  "  was  that  of  a  woman  whom  the  world  calls 
beautiful.  Through  its  'silver  veil '  the  evil  and  un- 
gentle passions  looked  out  hideous  and  hateful. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  are  faces,  which,  the  multi- 
tude, at  the  first  glance,  pronounce  homely,  unattrac- 
tive, and  such  as  'Nature  fashions  by  the  gross/ 
which  I  always  recognize  with  a  warm  heart-thrill ; 
not  for  the  world  would  I  have  one  feature  changed ; 
they  please  me  as  they  are;  they  are  hallowed  by 
kind  memories;  they  are  beautiful  through  their 
associations;  nor  are  they  any  the  less  welcome 
that,  with  my  admiration  of  them,  'the  stranger 
intermeddleth  not.' ' 

The  greatest  beauty  of  the  human  face  is  its 
power  to  express  the  feelings  of  the  heart.  With- 
out expression  the  countenance  is  cold  and  life- 
less. The  mobility  of  the  features,  allowing  the 
smile  to  permeate  every  part,  reveals  the  highest 
elements  of  human  nature.  It  shows  that  deep 
in  the  heart  there  is  the  constant  attitude  of  sym- 
pathy; the  wish  to  share,  not  to  dominate;  not  to 
secrete  and  possess  but  to  live  in  union  with 
others ;  to  spread,  not  terror  and  antagonism,  but 
joy  and  love.  When  such  emotions  are  really  felt, 
the  face  and  form  kindle  and  the  thought  shines 
through  the  countenance.  The  smile  is  the  key 
that  unlocks  the  door  to  beauty  and  loveliness. 

Who  does  not  remember  faces  that  according 
to  the  world's  standard  were  not  beautiful?  That 
is,  their  features  were  not  regular  and  well  pro- 
portioned. They  lacked  delicacy  and  softness  of 
skin,  yet  the  whole  countenance  seemed  alive  with 


76  THESMILE 


beautiful  thoughts,  genuine  sympathies  and  ex- 
alted feelings. 

There  were  Jenny  Lind,  Charlotte  Cushman, 
William  Warren;  there  are  Sembrich  and  hun- 
dreds of  others,  whose  kindly  faces  live  for  a  gen- 
eration in  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  those  who 
have  seen  them.  Such  faces  may  be  found  in 
every  walk  of  life.  Who  does  not  know  of  some 
good  woman  who  has  been  a  mother  to  the  whole 
neighborhood?  Who  has  not  known  faces  that 
could  never  be  photographed? 

It  is  the  power  to  express,  which  creates  real 
beauty,  something  all  can  cultivate. 

The  smile,  or  rather  the  underlying  cause  of 
the  smile,  is  the  supreme  beautifier  of  the  human 
countenance.  True  beauty  is  an  emanation  of 
life,  joy,  peace,  contentment,  and  sympathy  with 
one's  kind. 


XI 

CAN  THE  SMILE  BE  DEVELOPED? 

Can  we  develop  the  smile?  Does  it  lie  within 
the  province  of  education?  One  of  our  great  artists 
has  said,  "  No  man  can  teach  expression.  He 
can  teach  only  its  grammar."  According  to  this 
theory  you  can  teach  the  painter  only  drawing,  the 
use  of  his  tools,  the  nature  of  colors  and  how  to 
mix  them.  You  can  teach  the  musician  only  his 
piano  or  violin  or  flute.  Is  this  true?  Is  there  no 
awakening  of  ideals  which  is  an  essential  part  of 
education?  The  very  word  "  education  "  means 
to  draw  out.  Is  there  no  stimulation  of  the  imagi- 
nation which  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  develop- 
ment of  any  artist?  Is  it  possible  that  art  educa- 
tion is  merely  a  mechanical  process? 

How  often  are  sad  examples  of  modern  art  edu- 
cation found.  A  young  woman,  with  high  ideals, 
deep  artistic  nature  and  feeling,  entered  one  of 
the  leading  so-called  art  schools.  For  the  better 
part  of  a  year  she  was  compelled  to  draw  only  from 
a  cast.  The  drudgery  began  to  pall ;  art  became  to 
her  a  mechanical  thing;  she  lost  her  aspirations, 
her  ideals.  Her  artistic  instincts  were  dulled. 
She  had  no  relief  from  that  one  mechanical  per- 
formance. She  had  no  study  of  expression,  noth- 
ing was  given  to  her  to  awaken  her  creative  im- 
agination, her  emotional  energies,  her  love  of 
beauty,  her  power  of  insight  into  fundamental  ele- 
ments or  causes  of  beauty.  She  had  no  study  of 
herself,  no  study  of  the  different  modes  by  which 

77 


78  THESMILE 


imagination  and  emotion  are  unfolded.  How  few 
artists  are  made  by  such  a  process!  How  many 
are  unmade  by  such  drudgery !  Such  a  mechanical 
process  may  be  some  explanation  of  the  fact  that 
processes  of  art  expression  are  so  little  prized  in 
education.  Can  you  teach  expression?  Assuredly, 
if  you  can  teach  anything.  No  one  can  say  that 
students  of  painting  do  not  have  to  learn  to  draw. 
Every  art  has  a  technique  which  must  be  mas- 
tered ;  there  is  even  a  technique  of  speaking.  But 
with  a  mastery  of  technique  the  actions  of  the 
mind  must  be  awakened,  the  deeper  insight,  the 
intuitions.  No  amount  of  grammar  can  teach  a 
man  to  think. 

Technique  is  the  true  mode  of  revealing  mental 
actions.  It  is  the  best  way  of  conveying  impres- 
sions. 

Every  art  is  a  mode  of  thinking.  The  student 
must  learn  not  merely  grammar.  He  must  learn 
to  think.  Grammar  is  but  an  outward  shell,  hard 
and  mechanical,  the  result  of  formulation.  Woe 
to  the  man  who  clamps  these  on  the  backs  of  stu- 
dents before  the  real  life  is  awakened,  before  the 
soul  has  seen  any  vision.  The  same  mistake  is 
made  in  many  of  our  public  schools  even  more 
than  in  our  art  schools.  Too  much  attention  is 
paid  to  mere  mechanical  rules. 

To  acquire  correct  and  beautiful  English,  boys 
and  girls  must  be  inspired  with  the  desire  to  ex- 
press; they  must  receive  true  impressions;  they 
must  be  awakened  by  contact  with  great  literature. 
When  their  imaginations  are  awakened,  when  they 
have  seen  something  beautiful  and  are  asked  to 
describe  it,  they  are  led  to  the  desire  to  express  it 
well.  In  this  way  they  discover  the  simple  rules 
of  grammar. 


CAN  THE  SMILE  BE  DEVELOPED?   79 

On  the  contrary,  the  mechanical  teacher  of  gram- 
mar turns  all  attention  to  mere  words.  The  stu- 
dent has  nothing  to  say  but  there  is  an  endeavor 
to  teach  him  to  say  it  in  correct  English, — thus  he 
loses  all  real  interest,  and  there  is  no  awakening 
of  the  desire  to  express. 

The  aim  and  the  first  step  of  all  education  is  to 
awaken,  to  inspire.  To  speak  correctly  we  must 
think  correctly.  The  great  law  of  education  is  like 
the  smile,  which  must  come  from  within  outward. 

The  highest  education  is  a  sharing  of  the  uni- 
versal life.  Each  human  being  as  an  individual  is 
a  centre  of  conscious  identity,  but  this  does  not 
mean  that  the  individual  is  shut  up  in  some  corner. 
To  live  at  all  we  must  communicate.  A  universal 
conception  of  the  immortal  life  is  that  it  is  one  of 
love. 

You  can  improve  a  smile  only  according  to  the 
laws  of  all  development.  You  can  awaken  a  man's 
better  nature.  You  can  enkindle  a  higher  love. 
You  can  make  him  more  conscious  of  his  ideals 
and  give  him  more  courage  to  feel  them.  You  can 
stimulate  aspirations.  You  can  give  him  a  better  I/' 
point  of  view  of  life, — a  higher  conception  of  his 
race.  This  causes  the  smile  to  be  deeper,  to  dif- 
fuse itself  all  over  the  face  and  body  and  become 
a  permanent  part  of  his  countenance. 

Of  course  we  cannot  force  a  smile.  The  smile 
can  never  be  improved  by  rule.  It  cannot  be  built 
or  constructed.  It  has  np  grammar  but  it  can 
be  awakened.  The  improvement  of  the  smile  de- 
pends upon  a  deeper  and  truer  view  of  life,  upon 
better  health  and  a  healthier  vision,  upon  encour- 
agement to  enjoyment,  upon  greater  sympathy 
with  ome's  kind,  upon  increase  of  faith,  confidence 
in  truth  and  in  men. 


80  THESMILE 


The  problem  of  improving  the  smile  is  the  same 
problem  of  all  human  education.  Education  must 
awaken  the  very  depths  of  our  being.  It  cannot 
proceed  mechanically  or  by  rule.  All  human  edu- 
cation must  simply  awaken  and  direct  the  impulses 
of  nature. 

The  secret  of  FroebeFs  teaching,  according  to  a 
critic  and  advocate  of  his  method,  consists  in  bring- 
ing such  objects  around  the  child  as  will  stimulate 
spontaneous  activity. 

According  to  this  all  education  is  primarily  an 
awakening;  that  exercise  is  the  most  important 
which  will  most  effectually  quicken  the  human 
powers  and  bring  them  into  co-ordinate  activity. 

The  smile  can  be  developed;  and  its  develop- 
ment shows  the  right  processes  of  all  education. 

If  you  believe  that  a  smile  cannot  be  improved 
observe  closely  the  smile  of  a  baby.  Its  first  smile 
is  local,  but  watch  the  child  daily  for  some  weeks. 
What  a  transformation,  slow  but  decided!  Every 
day  some  deeper  action  becomes  apparent,  some 
additional  part  of  his  face  is  filled  with  joy  and  love 
until  at  last  there  is  no  part  that  does  not  beam 
with  feeling.  Many  men  retain  the  constricted 
smile  of  early  childhood.  None  of  their  smiles 
have  ever  visited  their  foreheads.  There  is  simply 
action  at  the  corners  of  the  mouth  and  that  is  all. 
Activity  at  the  outer  corners  of  the  eyes,  and  es- 
pecially of  the  lower  eyelid,  is  weak.  Sometimes 
the  lips  are  drawn  back  in  a  constricted  and 
tightened  way  and  become  cramped  and  set  upon 
the  teeth. 

The  majority  of  people  have  constrictions  in 
their  smiles,  constrictions  that  could  be  easily 
removed  if  the  facial  muscles  receive  the  proper 
rhythmic  treatment.  The  fingers  may  be  laid 


CAN  THE  SMILE  BE  DEVELOPED?   81 

gently  upon  the  face  at  those  points  where  there 
are  constrictions  and  the  muscles  may  be  gently 
moved  or  kneaded  so  the  part  may  be  set  free  and 
the  emotion  allowed  to  diffuse  its  action  through 
the  whole  face. 

How  does  this  slow  transformation  take  place? 
In  the  same  way  that  development  proceeds  in  us 
all.  The  whole  face  gradually  becomes  more 
responsive.  Each  little  muscle  awakens.  Na- 
ture's great  process,  the  localization  of  function, 
rapidly  progresses. 

The  improvement  in  the  looks  is  astonishing. 
Of  all  beautifiers  the  smile  is  the  greatest,  but  it 
must  be  genuine;  it  must  bring  every  feature  of 
the  face  into  co-ordination ;  every  muscle  must  be 
stimulated  to  act  simultaneously.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  smile  need  not  lead  to  affectation.  If 
the  process  is  properly  carried  on  affectation  may 
be  avoided.  It  is  one  of  the  faults  to  be  removed. 
There  are  assumed  smiles  all  around  us. 

All  expression  implies  a  certain  giving  up  of  the 
muscles  and  parts  of  the  body  to  the  diffusion  of 
feeling. 

Some  men's  hands  are  cramped  and  constricted. 
Feeling  causes  little  more  than  a  jerk  of  the  mus- 
cles of  the  arm.  By  relaxing  the  hand  feeling  and 
emotion  will  be  diffused  into  every  part.  We  can 
train  the  hand  from  a  mere  constricted  pair  of 
nippers  or  paws  into  a  sympathetic  sequence  of 
unfolding  actions  more  beautiful  than  the  flower. 
We  can  feel  every  finger  receiving  its  quota  of 
tenderness  and  co-ordination,  bringing  it  into  ac- 
tion and  unity  natural  to  the  human  hand.  Pos- 
sibly there  is  nothing  else  in  all  the  universe  that 
can  perform  that  action.  Certainly  there  is  nothing 
in  this  world  that  can  compare  with  it. 


82  THESMILE 


"  Oh !  "  you  say,  "  everybody  can  do  that."  No, 
indeed.  It  sometimes  takes  us  weeks  at  the 
School  of  Expression  to  secure  that  sympathetic 
modulation,  and  when  it  comes,  what  a  change! 
Channels  are  opened  that  allow  pent-up  feeling  a 
mode  of  expression;  it  is  not  alone  the  hand  that 
is  free,  it  is  the  student's  whole  being. 

The  hand  is  the  flower  of  expression.  The  fin- 
gers are  its  petals. 

And  the  human  face :  into  how  few  does  feeling 
flow  and  diffuse  itself  equally  over  every  part ! 

Yes,  the  smile  is  universal,  but  what  a  ghastly, 
one-sided  lot  of  smiles  are  found  in  the  world ! 

How  few,  when  they  smile,  smile  with  the  whole 
countenance !  Of  course  the  diffusion  of  the  smile 
into  every  feature  cannot  come  from  deliberation ; 
that  would  only  result  in  artificiality.  We  must 
smile  with  the  entire  face.  To  do  this  we  must 
allow  the  face  to  smile.  When  the  deliberative 
usurps  the  spontaneous,  we  have  artificiality  and 
affectation.  When  the  spontaneous  usurps  the 
deliberative,  we  have  chaos.  Is  there  no  way  in 
which  we  can  manipulate  the  face,  strengthen  in- 
ternal emotion,  open  a  channel  for  its  outflow, 
until  the  whole  face  can  be  filled  and  moulded  with 
this  imaginative  and  emotional  life? 

If  we  begin  early,  can  we  not  bring  all  the  fea- 
tures of  the  face  into  greater  unity?  Can  we  not 
make  them  harmonious  by  manipulation  with  the 
fingers?  Something  of  the  kind  can  be  done  for 
I  have  seen  it,  but  the  greatest  need  is  that  the 
man  be  awakened  and  his  emotion  stimulated. 
We  cannot  produce  the  effect  without  the  cause. 
Let  man  be  simple.  Let  him  look  on  the  world 
in  a  natural,  unaffected  and  sympathetic  way, — 
the  way  any  true  human  being  should;  if  he  per- 


CAN  THE   SMILE  BE  DEVELOPED?       83 

ceives  but  one  little  streak  of  sunshine,  then  he 
will  smile.  The  development  of  the  smile,  how- 
ever, must  go  still  farther.  Wrong  habits  are  a 
matter  of  acquirement.  For  example:  there  is 
everywhere  danger  of  premature  expression.  Im- 
pulsiveness is  not  the  same  as  spontaneity.  The 
latter  employs  a  co-ordination  of  man's  primary 
faculties  and  powers.  It  employs  reserve, — the 
co-ordination  of  emotions  until  they  diffuse  ac- 
tively into  all  parts  of  the  body. 

What  is  spontaneity,  and  especially  what  is  it  in 
the  smile? 

One  of  the  worst  faults,  and  one  of  the  earliest, 
is  a  kind  of  jerk  of  the  body  intended  for  a  laugh. 
Not  only  does  the  laugh  displace  the  smile  but  it 
is  a  sign  of  weakness,  and  the  result  is  characteris- 
tic of  all  forced  expression.  The  muscles  are  set 
into  action  and  the  whole  body  is  jerked,  or  more 
frequently,  given  a  series  of  jerks.  A  boy  or  girl 
gives  up  prematurely  to  the  desire  to  be  pleased, 
or  share  laughter  with  older  people,  with  the  result 
that  there  is  a  loud  gush  of  breath,  a  contortion  of 
the  body  and  other  abnormal  actions. 

Such  an  outward  thrust  of  breath  or  cramp  of  the 
body  is  a  sign  of  weakness.  Such  tendencies — 
and  there  are  many  of  them  too — should  be  cor- 
rected as  early  as  possible.  Here  is  the  time  to 
begin  to  develop  character. 

The  smile  must  be  easy,  natural,  simple.  It 
must  not  be  forced,  not  chaotic.  Even  children 
while  full  of  joy  must  be  trained  to  eliminate  ex- 
plosive laughter. 

The  smile  must  precede  and  support  laughter. 
Support  is  one  of  the  greatest  laws  of  expression. 
It  means  that  central  action  must  justify  one  that 
is  superficial ;  that  primary  action  such  as  the  smile 


84  THE  SMILE 


must  support  secondary  actions  such  as  laughter. 
All  true  laughter  begins  in  a  smile  which  must  pre- 
cede and  support  it. 

"  You  have  in  you  there,"  says  Emerson  "  a 
noisy,  sensual  savage,  which  you  are  to  keep  down, 
and  turn  all  his  strength  to  beauty.  For  example 
what  a  seneschal  and  detective  is  laughter!  It 
seems  to  require  several  generations  of  education 
to  train  a  squeaking  or  a  shouting  habit  out  of  a 
man.  Sometimes,  when  in  almost  all  expressions 
the  Choctaw  and  the  slave  have  been  worked  out  of 
him,  a  coarse  nature  still  betrays  itself  in  his  con- 
temptible squeals  of  joy.  It  is  necessary  for  the 
purification  of  drawing-rooms  that  these  enter- 
taining explosions  should  be  under  strict  control. 
Lord  Chesterfield  had  early  made  this  discovery, 
for  he  says,  '  I  am  sure  that  since  I  had  the  use  of 
my  reason,  no  human  being  has  ever  heard  me 
laugh.'  I  know  that  there  go  two  to  this  game,  and, 
in  the  presence  of  certain  formidable  wits,  savage 
nature  must  sometimes  rush  out  in  some  dis- 
order." 

Emerson  and  Chesterfield  recognized  the  dan- 
ger of  vulgarity  in  laughter.  It  is  the  one  act  to 
which  we  are  liable  to  give  up,  to  prematurely  and 
unreservedly  abandon  ourselves.  Yet  they  pos- 
sibly went  too  far. 

Mr.  Frank  Sanborn  tells  a  story  of  how  he  once 
went  to  walk  with  Emerson  in  the  woods,  and  he 
tried  to  make  him  laugh.  Beginning  very  quietly 
and  composedly  he  endeavored  to  take  him  by 
surprise  with  the  following  story:  A  man  came  in 
at  4  o'clock  in  the  morning.  As  he  came  in  his 
wife  cried  out,  "  Why  are  you  coming  in  so  late 
as  this?  It  is  four  o'clock."  "  My  dear,"  replied 
the  man,  "it  is  one  o'clock."  "  It  is  four  o'clock, 


CAN  THE   SMILE  BE  DEVELOPED?      85 

the  clock  has  just  struck  four,"  replied  his  wife. 
"  My  dear,"  he  answered,  "  it  struck  one,  I  heard 
"  it  strike  one  repeatedly." 

Emerson,  taken  by  surprise  at  the  last  word, 
turned  away  from  Mr.  Sanborn  and  placed  his 
hand  over  his  mouth  and  came  as  near  laughing 
as  he  ever  did. 

While  the  control  of  laughter,  in  transmuting 
it  into  a  smile,  is  one  of  the  greatest  marks  of 
culture  yet  the  hearty  laugh  brings  health  and 
strength. 

However,  the  laugh  which  is  reserved  and  re- 
tained in  the  middle  of  the  body,  which  is,  so  to 
speak,  an  internal  laugh  rather  than  an  external, 
has  a  far  better  effect  upon  the  health  than  the 
quick  abandon  and  the  open  boisterous  laugh. 

One  method  of  improving  the  laugh,  accordingly, 
is  to  transform  it  into  a  smile,  to  transform  it  into 
an  intense  increase  of  the  breathing  and  an  inward 
intense  activity. 

Another  point  may  be  noted.  The  laugh  to 
which  we  quickly  abandon  ourselves,  is  soon 
over,  while  the  laugh  which  we  reserve  and  con- 
trol gives  us  a  deeper  laugh  and  stays  longer. 

Never  allow  anything  to  make  us  negative.  Let 
us  be  always  positive;  let  us  keep  in  our  hearts 
only  positive  emotions.  What  a  change  that  would 
make  in  our  lives ! 

Observe  the  effect  of  positive  emotions  upon 
life: 

A  scientist  started  a  series  of  wonderful  in- 
vestigations which  were  unfortunately  interrupted 
by  lack  of  support  for  his  great  laboratory.  He 
showed  that  negative  emotions  exercised  a  dele- 
terious influence  upon  the  metabolism  in  the  cells 
of  the  human  body,  while  joy,  love,  courage  and 


86  THESMILE 


all  the  positive  emotions  stimulated  all  that  goes 
towards  normal  functioning  in  all  the  organs  of  the 
body. 

He  took  two  women.  One  meditated  for  a 
month  over  all  the  bad  things  that  had  happened 
to  her  in  her  life ;  the  other  meditated  over  all  the 
good  things  that  had  happened  to  her.  One  kept 
her  thoughts  negative ;  the  other  kept  her  thoughts 
positive. 

At  the  first  of  the  month  a  most  careful  ex- 
amination was  given  in  all  vital  conditions.  At  the 
close  of  the  month  another  careful  examination 
was  given.  One  had  decreased  18  per  cent. ;  the 
other  had  increased  25  per  cent,  in  all  that  made  for 
health,  strength  and  the  enjoyment  of  life. 

It  is  because  the  smile  expresses  positive  emo- 
tion that  it  is  so  important  to  life.  "  Laugh  and 
grow  fat "  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  truest  of  the 
proverbs.  The  smile  expresses  not  only  mental 
and  moral  health,  but  physical  strength.  What- 
ever we  do,  we  should  do  cheerfully  and  with  a 
smile.  If  a  man  walks  with  the  exhilaration  of  the 
smile  and  with  joy,  he  grows  stronger  and  stronger. 
If  he  hangs  his  head,  he  expresses  in  his  body  a 
negative  attitude ;  he  grows  weary  after  a  few  steps. 

Primitive  peoples  smile  imperfectly.  Unculti- 
vated people  laugh  but  rarely  smile.  Their  pleas- 
ure is  often  exploded  at  once  into  a  jerky  roar  of 
laughter. 

In  the  cultivated  person,  on  the  contrary,  there 
is  a  slow,  keen  realization  of  the  situation,  and  a 
deeper  co-ordination  of  all  the  faculties  of  the 
mind  and  body,  and  the  smile  seems  to  radiate 
through  the  whole  countenance.  The  presence  of 
the  smile  is,  therefore,  a  mark  of  refinement  and 
culture. 


CAN  THE   SMILE  BE  DEVELOPED?       87 

The  extravagant  laugh  is  marked  by  the  absence 
of  the  smile  and  it  always  indicates  a  lack  of  depth 
and  refinement. 

In  a  sense,  therefore,  the  smile  is  the  deeper 
part  of  nature,  and  in  another  sense,  it  is  the  sub- 
limest  character  of  art.  In  fact  we  find  the  smile 
the  perfect  gauge  of  culture. 

One  of  the  great  requisitions  of  expression  is 
self-control.  No  emotion  can  become  intense  un- 
less it  is  reserved.  It  is  like  an  engine, — if  the 
steam  is  allowed  to  have  free  vent  it  will  never 
give  the  power  necessary  to  move  the  train  of  cars. 
The  same  is  true  of  all  joy,  love,  emotion.  Lack 
of  reserve  means  lack  of  control.  The  true  smile 
shows  the  power  of  the  mind  in  the  face.  Explo- 
sion of  laughter,  with  no  preceding  smile,  is  indica- 
tive of  weakness  rather  than  of  joy  and  turns  any 
man  into  a  noisy  savage.  Everyone  should  strug- 
gle to  keep  down  this  savage,  which  still  survives 
in  every  plane  of  life,  and  in  all  literature.  It  takes 
a  great  deal  of  discipline  and  thoughtful  culture 
and  contact  with  the  best  society  to  eliminate  the 
gush  and  the  squeak  and  the  blow  from  our  laugh- 
ter. In  proportion  to  the  precedence  of  the  smile, 
its  dignity,  depth  and  diffusion  over  the  whole 
face,  may  we  determine  the  culture  of  the 
man. 

As  I  have  pointed  out  before  in  a  certain  sense  a 
smile  is  the  expression  of  the  whole  nature.  One 
of  the  first  things  that  impressed  me  in  my  early 
childhood  was  "  Uncle  Jim's  "  tremendous  laugh. 
His  "  Yahw,  yahw  "  could  be  heard  a  mile,  but 
there  was  very  little  smile.  In  contrast  to  this  the 
smile,  that  most  impressed  me,  was  that  of  Profes- 
sor Charles  Eliot  Norton,  which  went  all  over  his 
face  and  forehead.  What  a  difference, — a  differ- 


88  THESMILE 


ence  in  culture,  in  refinement,  and  in  harmonious 
development  of  the  higher  faculties ! 

To  my  mind,  therefore,  the  improvement  of  the 
smile  would  consist  in  bringing  it  more  around  the 
eyes,  in  giving  flexibility  to  all  parts  of  the  face, 
in  cultivating  reserve  and  avoiding  that  sudden 
impulsive  explosion  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
"  giggles." 

Dr.  Stanley  Hall,  in  observing  smiles,  said  that 
the  smile  of  some  men  begins  around  the  corners 
of  the  eyes  and  that  the  smile  of  others  began  at 
the  corners  of  the  mouth.  The  smiles  beginning 
at  the  mouth  are,  to  those  beginning  at  the  corners 
of  the  eyes,  as  seven  to  five.  This  overlooks  the 
question  as  to  which  is  the  more  cultivated.  The 
smile  of  the  more  cultivated  people  begins  around 
the  eyes.  Dr.  Hall  has  also  overlooked  those 
people  who  co-ordinate  perfectly  the  corners  of  the 
eye  with  the  mouth.  The  corner  of  the  eye  is  not 
sufficiently  responsive  in  many  people,  and  this  is 
the  reason  for  the  smile's  beginning  with  the 
mouth. 

Do  we  not  find  here  an  explanation  why  many 
have  condemned  the  laugh  as  vulgar? 

This  explains  why  Lord  Chesterfield  rejoiced 
that  no  one  had  ever  heard  him  laugh. 

Emerson  also  condemned  laughter,  and  seemed 
to  go  further,  sometimes,  in  almost  condemning 
the  smile.  He  has  written : 

"  Said  a  wise  mother,  '  Beware,  girls,  lest  you 
smile,  for  then  you  show  all  your  faults/  ' 

Ah,  Mr.  Emerson,  are  you  sure  that  any  wise 
mother  ever  said  that?  Does  not  a  smile  rather 
conceal  than  record  the  faults;  does  it  not  rather 
show  the  virtues? 


CAN  THE  SMILE  BE  DEVELOPED?       89 

Once  we  can  smile  at  our  own  follies,  or  at  the 
follies  of  others,  we  are  in  a  way  to  deliver  our- 
selves from  them.  In  fact,  it  is  one  of  the  first 
means  we  have  of  ridding  ourselves  of  our  faults, — 
to  be  able  to  laugh  at  them.  In  a  certain  sense, 
laughter  objectifies  to  us  something  that  is  wrong, 
and  when  we  can  laugh  at  it,  we  put  it  out  of  coun- 
tenance. 

Laughter  is  the  result  of  discovering  that  wrong 
is  a  delusion  and  a  sham.  The  sense  of  humor  is 
a  discovery  of  the  hollo wness  of  evil. 

Of  course,  there  can  be  faults  in  the  smile,  even 
in  laughter,  but  many  have  gone  too  far  in  con- 
demning laughter.  Pascal  regarded  it  as  wicked. 
But,  on  the  contrary,  the  hearty  ringing  laugh  is  a 
joy  to  all  who  hear  it.  Once  we  laugh  at  our  own 
faults  we  are  in  the  way  to  correct  ourselves  of 
them.  When  we  laugh  at  the  faults  of  others  it 
is  the  first  step  toward  separating  them  from  our- 
selves and  avoiding  temptation. 

Laughter  has  been  recommended  as  the  best 
physical  exercise  for  the  health.  It  certainly  is  a 
good  exercise  for  the  voice.  It  centres  the  breath- 
ing, opens  the  throat  and  diffuses  joy  through  the 
body. 

Savages  seldom  smile,  and  their  laughter  is 
jerky  and  explosive.  Gloomy  people  who  never 
laugh  are  generally  poor  in  health. 

Hearty  laughter  should  be  the  climax  of  the 
smile.  Joy  and  laughter  supported  by  the  smile 
are  beautiful  and  lovely. 

The  true  smile  eliminates  superficiality  and  arti- 
ficiality. The  many  people  who  condemn  laughter 
do  not  understand  its  relation  to  the  smile. 


xn 

MODES  OF  IMPROVING  THE  SMILE 

In  all  our  endeavors  to  develop  the  smile,  we  find 
the  same  numerous  false  and  the  few  true  methods 
which  we  find  in  the  development  of  all  true  modes 
of  expression.  Some  of  these  false  modes  of 
teaching  expression  may  be  seen  more  clearly  to 
be  false  in  the  light  of  the  smile.  The  first  of  these 
false  methods  is  imitation.  The  little  child  cer- 
tainly does  not  laugh  from  imitation.  I  have 
watched  little  tots  only  a  few  weeks  old  laugh  to 
themselves  over  some  object,  such  as  a  red  ball 
hung  at  a  distance. 

Unconscious  imitation  later  may  do  a  great  deal 
to  pervert  laughter.  Imitation,  as  a  rule,  has  more 
ability  to  degrade  than  to  develop.  The  smile  of 
the  little  child  certainly  does  not  improve  by  imi- 
tation. It  is  a  pure  manifestation  of  a  sense  of 
pleasure  and  happiness. 

Observe  what  a  poor,  hollow  mockery  is  the  imi- 
tation of  someone's  laughter. 

If  the  laugh  is  a  "  horse  laugh,"  or  is  in  any 
way  affected  or  abnormal,  its  imitation  is  easy,  but 
even  in  such  a  case  it  is  only  a  perversion  of  the 
original. 

How  hard,  how  impossible,  is  the  imitation  of  a 
good,  hearty,  genuine  laugh,  or  even  of  the  simple 
smile. 

The  laugh  of  each  individual  is  peculiar  to  him- 
self;  it  is  an  original  possession,  a  part  of  every- 
one's personal  identity. 

90 


MODES   OF  IMPROVING   THE   SMILE       91 

Why  has  imitation,  from  time  immemorial,  been 
the  chief  method  in  teaching  expression?  We  can 
trace  protests  against  it  through  all  the  great 
teachers  of  speaking, — and  yet  it  is  still  practised 
by  many  in  this  enlightened  day.  Sad  to  say,  it  is 
popular.  People  like  it;  it  seems  so  easy,  so  nat- 
ural. Whoever  stops  to  think  that  only  the  ex- 
ternals and  accidentals,  the  oddities  and  peculiari- 
ties of  a  man  can  be  imitated?  Though  imitation 
tends  to  degrade  all  true  expression,  as  well  as 
character  itself,  modern  culture  still  encourages  it. 
It  has  great  weaknesses,  but  many  seem  to  think 
that  it  is  the  only  way  possible  in  art. 

There  is  nothing  that  has  a  more  superficializing 
effect  upon  human  feeling  and  human  intuition, 
true  vigor  and  originality  of  thinking,  than  imita- 
tion. 

Whenever  a  man  succeeds  as  an  actor  or  public 
reader,  he  feels  that  his  method  and  what  brought 
success  to  him  is  of  fundamental  importance,  is 
an  original  discovery  and  that  it  belongs  to  all  the 
race. 

While  the  great  artist  has  learned  to  know 
better  and  realizes  that  his  greatest  discovery  is 
his  own  personal  element  in  his  work,  the  second- 
rate  actor  feels  that  he  can  do  humanity  a  great 
service  by  teaching  it  to  do  just  as  he  does.  Grant- 
ing that  he  does  everything  well,  which  is  not  the 
case;  the  fact  generally  being  that  he  does  some 
one  thing  well,  he  forgets  that  everyone  else  has  a 
different  temperament,  a  different  personality,  a 
different  point  of  view,  and  that  art  necessarily 
implies  a  decided  and  original  point  of  view.  He 
forgets  that  other  people  have  voices  of  totally 
different  quality,  pitched  in  a  different  key  and  of 
a  different  range,  and  that  the  actions  of  their 


92  THESMILE 


bodies  are  different.  "  Imitation,"  says  Emerson, 
"  is  suicide,"  and  there  is  no  place  where  this  ap- 
plies more  than  in  the  work  of  expression. 

The  imitator  in  art,  painting,  sculpture,  in  ex- 
pression or  action,  is  always  recognized  at  once, 
and  his  work,  as  second-rate,  mediocre,  without 
centrality,  vitality,  or  personality.  "  There  are 
no  two  men  alike,"  said  Sam  Jones;  "  if  there  are, 
one  of  them  is  no  account."  In  the  same  way,  we 
can  say  there  are  no  two  Hamlets  alike,  no  two 
Lady  Macbeths,  no  two  Lady  Teazles  alike,  or 
if  there  are,  one  is  of  no  account.  A  character  to 
be  artistically  portrayed  must  be  found  in  the 
depths  of  the  artist's  being.  Even  though  he 
remains  true  to  the  writer  of  the  play,  he  must 
still  be  himself.  The  writer  of  the  play  himself 
takes  great  interest  and  realizes  the  twin  crea- 
tion of  his  fellow  artist. 

In  imitation  of  every  kind,  there  is  a  struggle  to 
get  an  effect  without  a  cause,  hence  affectation  and 
artificiality  necessarily  result  with  consequent  dis- 
couragement and  fettering  of  personality. 

Anyone  may  convince  himself  of  this  by  trying 
to  imitate  a  smile  or  by  observing  someone  else  do 
so.  In  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  imitation  can 
be  only  a  constriction,  a  caricature.  It  is  exhibi- 
tion, not  expression;  manipulation,  not  manifes- 
tation. 

Weak  as  is  imitation,  the  remedy  offered  for  it 
has  been  scarcely  better.  What  is  the  substitute? 
Mechanical  rules,  artificial  analysis. 

Apply  this  method  to  the  smile.  Try  to  smile 
by  rule.  Try  consciously  and  voluntarily  to  con- 
trol every  element  in  the  smile.  How  truly  arti- 
ficial is  the  result. 

Yet  this  method  is  exactly  what  mechanical 


MODES  OF  IMPROVING  THE   SMILE      93 

elocution  has  tried  to  employ.  It  has  endeavored 
to  make  every  element  of  delivery  deliberative. 
It  has  tried  to  make  man  give  every  inflection  ac- 
cording to  some  rule.  Everyone  must  be  con- 
scious and  volitional.  No  room  is  left  for  the 
spontaneous  emanation  which  is  the  very  funda- 
mental characteristic  of  the  true  smile. 

We  may,  however,  control  our  attention.  We 
may  sustain  our  attitude  of  joyous  interest  in  a 
way  to  awaken  character  and  more  harmonious 
spontaneity.  Hence,  the  smile  can  be  improved. 
It  can  be  reserved,  controlled,  guided  and  en- 
couraged. We  can  allow  it  to  become  the  spon- 
taneous result  of  conditions. 

We  can  give  ourselves  up  to  a  mental  attitude. 
We  can  allow  a  picture  to  dominate  us.  We  can 
repress  a  wrong  feeling  or  chasten  it  or  elevate 
it  to  a  higher  plane  and  thus  affect  the  smile  as 
its  expression. 

The  smile  itself  is  a  resultant,  a  kind  of  reflex 
action  or  response  to  attention.  To  try  to  produce 
by  will  the  spontaneous  elements  of  any  expres- 
sion is  ridiculous.  No  wonder  elocution  has  be- 
come the  synonym  of  artificiality. 

A  theory  may  sound  well  but  it  needs  to  be 
tested  by  fact.  Let  us  take  the  theories  of  me- 
chanical elocution  and  apply  them  to  the  smile. 

We  can  improve  expression  in  all  its  forms, 
whether  that  expression  be  a  smile,  a  song,  a 
painting  or  a  statue,  in  three  ways:  first,  we  can 
stimulate  its  cause;  second,  we  can  secure  better 
control  of  the  means  to  be  employed;  and  third,  ~V  \ 
we  may  by  careful  observation,  study  and  ex- 
periment, come  to  understand  something  of  its 
nature  or  meaning;  we  may  comprehend  better 
its  elements,  its  expressive  value.  In  short,  we 


94  THESMILE 


may  gain  command  of  a  better  vocabulary.  We 
can  also  repress  bad  results  and  can  encourage 
and  develop  that  which  is  right. 

To  illustrate  by  the  smile :  in  the  first  place,  we 
can  awaken  joy,  sympathy,  love  and  interest. 
We  can  develop  a  man's  imagination  and  his 
powers  of  observation;  we  can  harmoniously  un- 
fold all  his  faculties.  That  is,  we  can  actually 
develop  a  cause  for  the  smile. 

In  the  second  place,  we  can  limber  up  the  face. 
We  can  improve  the  health  and  agility  of  the  whole 
body.  We  can  remove,  by  direct  action  of  the 
fingers,  various  constrictions  from  the  features. 

In  the  third  place,  we  may  realize  that  a  smile 
may  be  exploded  into  a  jerky  laugh  and  become 
ridiculous  or  offensive,  on  the  one  hand;  on  the 
other,  we  may  realize  that  emotion  may  be  con- 
trolled and  allowed  to  diffuse  itself  through  the 
whole  body  and  the  face.  We  can  allow  our  whole 
nature  to  respond  properly  to  the  deeper  influ- 
ences; we  can  study  our  faces  and  see  the  signif- 
icance of  the  smile.  We  can  see  that  our  smile 
is  only  in  the  lips  and  has  nothing  about  the  corners 
of  the  eyes.  We  can  render  the  eyes  more  mobile. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  tendency  to  self -conscious- 
ness in  this,  but  a  certain  element  of  self-con- 
sciousness is  necessary  in  the  correction  of  all 
faults,  all  one-sidedness,  all  abnormal  conditions. 

In  a  similar  way,  the  musician  must  have  music 
in  his  soul.  Poets,  musicians,  artists  of  all  kinds, 
need  one  another.  Not  that  they  may  imitate  but 
that  they  may  stimulate  and  inspire  one  another. 
The  music  in  man  must  be  awakened  by  music; 
the  right  awakening  of  the  imagination  by  the 
study  of  literature,  by  a  more  sympathetic  observa- 
tion of  Nature,  by  listening  to  the  winds  among  the 


MODESOF  IMPROVING  THE   SMILE      95 

trees,  the  murmuring  of  the  brooks  and  the  sing- 
ing of  the  birds.  He  must  be  awakened  also  by 
the  great  musical  interpretations  of  these  things 
by  the  masters.  He  needs  the  musicians  of  other 
ages  that  his  own  individual  power  may  be  awak- 
ened. To  love  Beethoven  does  not  necessarily 
mean  the  imitation  of  that  master.  The  musician 
must  have  power  in  himself  to  respond  to  the 
music  in  Nature  and  to  appreciate  the  artistic  en- 
deavors of  others. 

In  short,  he  must  have  a  love  of  music  in  his 
own  being  as  the  basis  of  all  his  education. 

In  the  second  place,  he  must  have  an  instru- 
ment in  tune.  The  means  must  be  at  his  com- 
mand. The  best  musician  in  the  world  cannot 
bring  good  music  from  an  instrument  that  is  badly 
constructed,  that  has  discordant  overtones  or  is 
out  of  tune. 

In  the  third  place,  he  must  know  how  to  play. 
He  must  have  command  of  every  key.  He  must 
understand  the  right  use  of  chords.  He  must  have 
the  command  of  his  touch,  of  his  bow,  if  he  is  a 
violinist;  of  his  fingers  and  the  keys,  if  he  is  a 
pianist. 

Thus  he  must  have  imaginative,  creative  power 
to  receive  an  impression.  He  must  have  his  in- 
strument rightly  attuned  and  have  command  of 
the  technique  of  his  art.  As  has  already  been  said, 
the  technique  must  not  be  despised,  but  no  one 
of  the  three  must  be  slighted.  One  of  the  great 
difficulties  with  art  schools  has  been  that  they 
give  merely  the  technique.  They  say  that  is  all 
they  can  do  for  a  student.  If  he  has  art  in  his 
soul,  he  will  succeed.  They  do  nothing  to  awaken 
the  artistic  or  the  spiritual  instincts,  or  a  love  of 
nature  and  beauty.  At  times  they  even  repress 


96  THESMILE 


it.  A  student  is  compelled  for  months  to  draw 
from  a  cast.  He  is  rarely  sent  out  face  to  face 
with  Nature  to  sketch,  but  the  work  of  drawing 
should  be  combined  with  wider  studies,  to  awaken 
interest  and  the  artistic  nature,  otherwise  the 
work  will  become  drudgery.  The  art  schools  kill 
more  artists  than  they  make. 

It  was  the  aim  of  the  founders  of  the  School  of 
Expression  not  only  to  reform  elocution,  but  to 
bring  the  speaker,  the  actor,  and  the  reader  to 
study  their  arts  from  all  points  of  view. 

It  was  their  aim,  also,  to  lead  all  the  art  schools 
to  do  the  same  thing,  that  is,  realize  that  to  make 
an  artist  you  must  awaken  the  cause  as  well  as 
secure  a  command  of  the  technical  means  of  the 
art,  or  the  technical  language  used. 

It  was  one  of  the  aims,  also,  of  this  School  to 
show  the  world  the  necessity  of  studying  man's 
primary  modes  of  expression,  such  as  the  smile. 
The  Greeks  did  this  and  the  same  has  been  true 
of  every  great  artistic  period  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  There  is  a  proper  realization  not  only  of  the 
generic  nature  of  expression,  but  this  gives  some 
understanding  of  the  character  of  all  true  artistic 
endeavor  brought  about  by  a  study  of  man's  own 
primary  languages,  especially  his  primary  lan- 
guages from  the  earliest  childhood  or  those  which 
are  most  directly  connected  with  the  awakening 
of  the  artistic  faculties.  Expression  in  its  most 
primitive  and  natural  forms, — from  the  first  smile 
of  the  little  child  to  the  simplest  use  of  the  voice 
in  conversation,  from  the  simplest  motion  to  the 
most  complex  expression  of  the  whole  body, — is 
wholly  neglected  in  education  or  spoken  of  con- 
temptuously. 

"  What  is  the  use  of  studying  such  things?  " 


MODES   OF  IMPROVING  THE   SMILE       97 

has  been  heard  more  than  once.  The  use  of 
studying  such  things !  How  else  can  thought  and 
feeling  be  co-ordinated?  How  else  can  thought 
and  imagination  be  brought  into  sympathetic 
union?  How  else  can  the  harmony  of  man's  whole 
being  be  established?  How  else  can  man  realize 
the  dignity  of  all  art  and  the  necessity  of  human 
expression  as  the  very  foundation  of  society? 

We  receive  education  from  two  sources, — im- 
pression and  expression,  and  the  two  are  co- 
ordinated, as  in  true  respiration  the  taking  of 
breath  must  be  co-ordinated  with  the  giving  out  of 
breath. 

For  so-called  schools  of  art  not  to  include  the 
primary  modes  of  expression  is  most  astounding. 

Everyone,  of  course,  will  acknowledge  that 
there  is  a  difference  between  a  smile  and  a  picture. 
The  smile  is  more  a  part  of  ourselves.  It  is  more 
spontaneous.  The  picture  is  a  deliberative  crea- 
tion, while  the  smile  is  a  simple,  spontaneous 
manifestation.  There  is  a  right  and  a  wrong 
method  of  painting  a  picture, — a  right  way  to  draw 
things  and  a  wrong  way  to  color. 

And  yet  in  a  picture  there  is  also  something 
spontaneous, — at  the  climax  the  artist  feels  the 
total  inadequacy  of  the  means  he  employs  to  ac- 
complish the  results  he  wishes. 

It  is  not  wholly  deliberative.  He  cannot  always 
give  the  exact  reason  for  doing  something  in  a 
specific  way,  or  explain  how  he  brings  all  into  a 
sympathetic  oneness.  The  last  climax  comes  in 
all  its  unity  with  something  of  the  spontaneity  of 
the  human  smile,  or  the  whole  picture  is  wrong. 

He  may  call  this  tone  and  speak  of  the  tone  of 
the  picture  as  a  result  of  feeling,  but  it  can  never 
result  from  a  formula  or  receipt.  It  must  come,  as 


THE   SMILE 


all  true  expression  comes  at  the  last,  with  the  im- 
mediateness  of  a  natural  sign. 

There  is  a  right  and  wrong  way  in  every  art, 
and  is  there  not  a  right  and  wrong  way  to  smile? 
Are  there  no  jerky  constrictions  of  the  body,  no 
twitches  of  the  face  that  are  wholly  meaningless; 
are  there  no  constricted  members  that  can  be 
set  free? 

Is  the  feeling  causing  the  smile  reposeful,  rest- 
ful and  reserved  or  controlled?  Can  there  be  no 
holding  back  of  the  feelings  until  they  become 
diffused  through  the  whole  body  and  the  smile  be 
thus  improved? 

Who  has  not  heard  a  sudden  outburst  of  laugh- 
ter, the  laugh  indicating  an  undisciplined  nature, 
uncultivated  feeling,  and  an  untrained  voice? 

Perhaps  the  smile  is  one  of  the  most  normal  of 
human  actions.  Certainly,  it  has  no  grammar. 

He  who  said,  "  You  can  never  teach  expression; 
you  can  teach  only  its  grammar,"  knew  as  little 
of  what  true  expression  is  as  he  knew  what  true 
education  is.  The  grammar  of  expression,  or  the 
language  of  signs,  is  exactly  what  cannot  be  taught. 
To  teach  expression  we  must  awaken  certain 
conditions  and  must  secure  command  of  those 
conditions. 

If  the  face  is  normal,  the  muscles  all  over  it  are 
harmoniously  developed;  if  the  nervous  system 
is  healthful  and  the  mind  free  and  sympathetic, 
if  there  is  a  sense  of  humor  and  a  sense  of  love 
for  one's  fellow-men,  then  the  smile  will  come  of 
itself. 

Even  the  painter  of  a  picture  who  at  the  climax 
of  its  revelation  is  thinking  of  his  grammar,  will 
fail.  He  will  miss  the  spontaneous  elements  of 
the  smile. 


MODES    OF    IMPROVING    THE    SMILE    99 

Grammar  must  be  studied,. but  forgotten.  The 
study  of  grammar  is  on  the  very  outward  periphery 
of  all  study  of  language,  especially  of  signs.  It 
must  become  a  part  of  one's  being.  Grammar 
must  become  a  habit  of  daily  intercourse  in  speech, 
and  this  is  still  more  true  of  the  painter,  the  sculp- 
tor, the  actor  and  the  speaker. 

One  of  the  hardest  things  to  teach  is  action ;  as  it 
is  the  most  unconscious  language,  calling  con- 
scious attention  to  it  is  very  apt  to  be  injurious.  It  is 
very  difficult  to  develop  that  which  is  spontaneous. 

One  method  is  to  show  students  the  necessity 
of  emphasizing  the  reception  of  an  impression ;  by 
sustaining  attention  and  allowing  the  mind  to 
create  its  own  ideas  in  its  own  ways,  and  then 
giving  up  voice  and  body  to  the  direct  effect  of  the 
impression.  Then  let  expression  true  and  genuine 
immediately  follow. 

The  results  of  this  are  surprising.  Not  only 
those  who  had  no  action  have  been  so  awakened 
that  there  was  more  expressive  movement,  but 
those  who  had  too  much  and  chaotic  action  have 
been  brought  into  emotive  repose.  This  sentence 
from  Emerson  applies  to  all  expression  but  it  is  a 
special  application  to  the  smile: — 

"  The  muscles,  not  spontaneously  moved  but 
moved  by  a  low  usurping  wilfulness,  grow  tight 
about  the  outline  of  the  face,  with  the  most  dis- 
agreeable sensation." 

One  of  the  chief  methods  of  improving  the  smile 
is  by  nature  study.  A  true  observation  of  plants, 
trees  and  bushes  requires  us  to  come  face  to  face 
sympathetically  with  simple  objects.  Thus  we 
come  to  feel  the  smile  that  permeates  the  skies 
and  hills,  the  fields  and  woods.  A  loving  observer 
seems  to  catch  the  spirit  of  nature's  life. 


100  THESMILE 


The  father  and  mother  should  take  the  children 
to  the  woods.  Nature  is  the  great  school-house. 
It  seems  to  be  filled  with  smiles.  From  every 
nook  and  corner  there  is  a  kindly  invitation  which 
every  little  child  longs  to  accept.  Who  has  not  felt 
the  smile  in  the  spring-time,  the  joyous  gleam 
across  the  snow  in  winter?  Who  has  not  heard 
the  glad  twitter  of  the  birds,  the  laughter  of  the 
streams?  It  is  Wordsworth  who  has  taught  us 
the  true  joy  of  nature. 

The  child  is  free  to  laugh  in  the  fields,  free  to 
run  and  shout  and  laugh  as  heartily  as  it  pleases, 
free  to  enjoy  its  life.  There  its  senses  are  awak- 
ened by  the  expansive  activity  of  nature. 

Why?  Because  the  trees  and  flowers,  the  songs 
of  the  birds  and  the  rippling  of  the  waters  awaken 
a  smile  that  will  welcome  the  deepest  truth  and 
the  most  abstract  statement.  Nature  is  especially 
adapted  to  awaken  the  best  in  a  human  being. 

If  teachers  were  allowed  to  take  the  children 
for  half  the  time  out  into  the  presence  of  nature, 
during  the  other  time  they  would  learn  double. 

"Through  primrose  tufts,  in  that  green  bower 

The  periwinkle  trailed  its  wreaths ; 
And  'tis  my  faith  that  every  flower 
Enjoys  the  air  it  breathes. 

"The  birds  around  me  hopped  and  played, 

Their  thoughts  I  cannot  measure; 
But  the  least  motion  which  they  made, 
It  seemed  a  thrill  of  pleasure. 

"The  budding  twigs  spread  out  their  fan, 

To  catch  the  breezy  air; 
And  I  must  think,  do  all  I  can, 
That  there  was  pleasure  there." 

Ah,  yes !  the  smile  and  the  joy  open  the  avenue 
of  truth.  The  unfolding  of  the  child  is  as  natural 


MODES   OF  IMPROVING  THE   SMILE     101 

as  the  blooming  of  the  flower.  How  unfortunate 
it  is  that  we  make  children  hate  education,  poetry, 
and  even  truth. 

Awaken  the  smile  and  the  door  is  open  to  receive 
the  most  serious  thought.  Provoke  the  frown  and 
all  doors  shut. 

There  also  are  tragedies  in  nature.  A  lady 
looked  out  of  her  window  every  day  at  two  robins 
who  had  a  nest  in  a  tree.  It  pleased  her  to  watch 
them.  When  the  little  robins  came  her  enjoyment 
increased.  One  day  the  male  robin  came  home 
and  called  to  his  mate,  but  he  called  in  vain ;  a  cat 
had  taken  her  from  him.  After  hours  of  mournful 
calling  he  came  and  looked  at  his  motherless 
children  and  went  to  work.  As  a  young  robin  will 
eat  his  weight  every  day  in  red  worms  the  task 
was  no  light  one.  But  he  fulfilled  it  and  brought 
them  all  up  to  the  time  when  he  stood  proudly 
over  them  on  a  limb  and  forced  them  to  take  their 
first  lesson  in  flying.  One  little  fellow  decidedly 
objected.  The  nest  was  all  right  for  him.  But 
Master  Robin  got  behind  him  and  boosted  him 
out  with  his  head.  The  father  watched  them  one 
by  one  fly  to  a  neighboring  tree,  watching  all  the 
while  for  the  horrible  cat.  Great  was  his  exulta- 
tion as  the  timid  one  at  last  made  the  flight  vic- 
toriously. 

Erasmus  Wilson,  of  Pittsburgh,  who  has  de- 
lighted generations  with  his  observations,  has 
told  a  sadder  story  still.  A  robin  had  not  only  lost 
its  mate  but  also  one  of  its  legs  in  a  battle  with  a 
cat.  Yet  with  only  one  leg,  with  hard  toil  and 
work  he  brought  up  the  family.  Through  all  this 
fearful  task  laid  upon  him,  even  in  rain  and  in 
storm,  a  lady  who  watched  him  and  tried  to  help 
him  a  little  in  his  great  task,  said  that  he  would 


102  THE   SMILE 


take  a  little  time  every  day  to  perch  on  the  top 
of  a  tree  on  his  one  leg  and  sing,  triumphing  over 
his  trials  and  misfortunes.  What  heroic  courage, 
what  gratitude,  what  devotion,  what  love,  what 
joy,  can  well  up  in  the  hearts  of  these  blessed 
citizens  of  the  woods ! 

I  once  took  a  course  in  nature  study  with  Pro- 
fessor Hodge.  I  was  working  very  hard  on  some 
psychological  problems,  and  I  wanted  the  spirit 
of  enjoyment;  I  wanted  a  little  guidance, — a  better 
understanding  of  the  way  to  study  nature. 

One  day  we  would  go  straight  ahead,  looking 
neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  to  gather  mos- 
quito eggs  that  we  might  watch  them  hatch  out. 
Another  day  he  would  say,  "  Let  us  see  what  we 
may  happen  to  find."  Once  we  came  to  an  old 
apple  tree  and  found  upon  one  of  its  limbs  a  lady 
bug.  What  was  she  doing?  We  gazed  in  admira- 
tion as  we  were  made  to  realize  her  great  service. 
We  never  interrupted  nor  disturbed  her  and  I 
remember  her  with  delight,  in  the  tree  she  was 
serving. 

Such  a  walk  with  Professor  Hodge  was  an  event 
in  a  lifetime.  The  simplest  object  became  a  sub- 
ject of  deep,  serious  study.  He  is  a  true  teacher 
who  can  direct  the  attention  of  others  to  the 
deepest  truths  in  the  least  things. 

Keep  the  heart  full  of  great  literature,  of  beauti- 
ful pictures,  and  keep  high  ideals.  Come  to  the 
right  source  of  enjoyment.  Read  only  good  books, 
great  books.  Look  only  at  great  and  beautiful  pic- 
tures. Associate  as  far  as  possible  with  the  best 
people,  with  those  having  high  ideals,  with  those 
whose  hearts  are  full  of  joy  and  love  and  sympathy. 
Avoid  with  all  possible  care  the  man  who  is  sour, 
and  above  all  live  true  to  the  heart  of  nature. 


MODES   OF  IMPROVING  THE   SMILE     103 

Light  is  thrown  upon  the  proper  development 
of  smile  and  laughter  and  the  correction  of  faults, 
by  the  distinction  which  has  already  been  made 
between  the  three  kinds  of  action, — gestures, 
attitudes,  and  bearings. 

The  smile  of  the  young  child  is  sudden  and  local 
at  first,  but  the  face  becomes  more  and  more  re- 
sponsive. That  which  was  gesture  becomes  sym- 
pathetic attitude  and  modulation  of  the  whole 
countenance.  The  smile  becomes  more  reposeful 
and  permanent.  We  see  before  us  a  revelation 
of  the  process  of  formation  of  character. 

If  expressions  of  pain  or  displeasure  are  culti- 
vated, the  growth  of  the  smile  is  retarded,  and 
the  face  may  take  on  permanent  perversions  as 
bearings.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  joy  and  love  and 
tenderness  are  made  to  fill  the  heart  the  face 
gradually  takes  on  the  bearing  of  the  smile. 

This  development  of  right  bearings  in  the  little 
child  is  not  even  a  question  of  health  nor  a  question 
of  intelligence,  but  simply  one  of  love  and  freedom 
to  express  itself.  It  is  chiefly  a  question  of  right 
co-ordinations  with  the  kindly  face  of  the  mother 
or  nurse.  Self-indulgence,  constant  answering  of 
every  whim  will  quickly  develop  perversions. 

These  bearings  in  the  face  will  become  the 
bearings  of  the  whole  body,  expressing  and  un- 
folding the  being  of  the  child.  They  color  all  ex- 
pression and  form  character. 

Two  persons  may  act  the  same  part,  speak  the 
same  words,  but  how  differently!  What  is  the 
cause  of  the  difference?  Every  man  gives  some- 
thing of  himself.  The  bearing,  in  spite  of  all  a 
man  can  do,  emanates  with  the  words  he  speaks. 
"  If  I  had  said  that,"  bitterly  sneered  a  man  of 
one  who  was  moving  a  crowd,  "  nobody  would 


104  THESMILE 


have  listened  to  it."  The  sarcastic  sneer  uncon- 
sciously told  the  reason.  Character  fills  the  sim- 
plest words  with  life. 

Speaking  has  a  technique,  but  Cicero  implied 
that  speaking  was  something  more,  "it  is  a  good 
man  speaking  well." 

Every  child  begins  to  develop  a  smile  or  frown 
or  scowl  as  a  permanent  bearing.  Why  leave  all 
to  chance?  Why  forget  the  importance  of  early 
impressions  and  experiences?  Why  overlook  the 
fact  that  the  formation  of  bearing  is  simply  an 
expression  of  the  formation  of  character? 

Can  the  smile  be  so  deepened  as  to  become  a 
bearing?  This  is  exactly  what  takes  place  in  the 
unfolding  of  lovely  characters. 

Under  the  perverted  smile,  the  conventional  set 
smile  that  seems  to  want  to  please  you,  you  may 
feel  the  hate.  It  is  more  like  a  mere  gesture,  an 
assumed  gesture  at  that.  It  is  not  an  attitude; 
it  is  a  kind  of  attitudinizing. 

The  deep,  true,  genuine  smile  that  we  enjoy  is 
a  gesture,  an  attitude  and  a  bearing  all  at  the  same 
time.  A  bearing  expressing  habitual  sympathy 
and  joy,  an  attitude  indicating  a  present  specific 
experience. 

For  a  time,  a  bearing  expresses  habitual  emo- 
tions,— those  which  are  the  motives  of  character, 
which  have  become  characteristic  and  show  the 
type  to  which  a  man  belongs. 

Bearings  are  deeper  than  motions  or  attitudes. 
Men  are  less  conscious  of  them.  They  are  signs, 
not  of  present  experience  which  emanates  atti- 
tudes, but  of  the  trend  of  all  his  experiences, — 
emotions  which  he  has  most  indulged,  attitudes 
which  express  the  moods  and  feelings,  motives 
and  conditions  which  he  has  most  cherished. 


MODES   OF  IMPROVING  THE   SMILE     105 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  difference  between 
wit  and  humor.  The  smile  which  proceeds  from 
wit  is  more  of  a  gesture;  the  smile  that  results 
from  humor  is  rather  an  attitude  or  bearing.  Wit 
is  brisk  in  action  and  brings  quick  response,  while 
humor  is  more  gradual, — it  permeates  the  whole 
man  and  awakens  a  deeper  pleasure. 

Wit  is  sharp  and  cutting;  humor  is  always  sym- 
pathetic. Wit  laughs;  humor  smiles.  Everyone 
to  become  humorous  must  remain  himself.  Hu- 
mor is  a  just  sense  of  the  interrelation  of  things 
and  of  one's  own  individuality  to  the  world.  Hu- 
mor is  one  of  the  most  sacred  of  emotions.  It 
brings  a  victory  to  the  human  being. 

Irish  wit,  as  is  well  known,  though  often  sym- 
pathetic and  at  times  having  great  humor,  usually 
has  a  little  sting  to  it.  Observe  this  in  the  follow- 
ing characteristic  Irish  story : 

A  lawyer  named  O'Hara  was  pleading  a  case 
before  a  judge,  when  a  donkey  outside  began  to 
bray.  "  One  at  a  time,  brother  O'Hara,  one  at  a 
time,"  said  the  judge.  A  little  later,  when  the 
judge  was  making  his  charge,  the  same  donkey, 
now  a  little  farther  away,  brayed  again.  The 
lawyer  broke  in  and  said,  "  Will  your  honor  please 
to  repeat  that  last  remark?  There  is  such  an 
echo  in  this  room  that  I  was  not  able  to  hear  what 
you  said." 

Thackeray  had  more  wit,  Dickens  had  more 
humor.  Wit  awakens  a  sudden,  jerky  laugh,  and 
humor  is  the  real  source  of  the  smile. 

Dickens  made  the  world  smile  sympathetically 
with  the  poorest  boy  or  man  on  the  streets  of  Lon- 
don. The  greater  education  of  people  leads  toward 
humor  rather  than  toward  wit,  toward  the  smile 
rather  than  toward  explosive  laughter.  Laughter 


106  THESMILE 


is  almost  like  a  gesture.  There  is  little  bearing 
in  it,  but  the  smile  may  become  a  part  of  the  whole 
countenance,  become  one  of  the  most  characteris- 
tic bearings  of  a  face. 

We  must  never  forget  that  all  true  education 
is  the  acquisition  of  bearings.  Our  sudden  emo- 
tions become  motives;  our  exalted  visions  which 
come  at  moments,  may  be  so  cherished  as  to  be- 
come part  of  our  character.  Thus,  expression  is 
a  mirror  of  educational  processes. 

Sudden  transitory  emotions  become  settled 
into  the  deep  conditions  of  our  lives.  Hence,  the 
importance  of  such  little  acts,  as  smiles  and  laugh- 
ter. The  choice  we  make  adds  to  the  dignity  of 
our  mirth.  Boisterous  laughter  is  softened.  The 
smile  is  deepened  and  made  a  part  of  our  inner- 
most life. 


XIII 
THE  SMILE  AS  AN  EDUCATIONAL  AID 

We  under- estimate  the  importance  of  laughter 
and  the  first  smile  that  is  gesture.  The  true  smile 
must  begin  as  a  gesture  before  it  can  become  a 
bearing.  It  is  necessary  to  practice  all  modes  of 
expression  in  order  to  develop  the  bearings.  Ex- 
pression is  one  of  the  most  important  means  of 
unfolding  and  developing  character.  We  can 
develop  a  deep  and  beautiful  bearing  of  the  smile 
on  the  face  only  by  the  practice  of  joy.  We  must 
cherish  love  and  joy  in  the  heart;  we  must  be 
interested  in  others.  Such  an  attitude  is  produc- 
tive of  smiles  and  laughter,  and  when  accom- 
panied by  reserve,  constant  meditation  and  a 
serious  study  of  nature,  literature  and  our  fellow- 
men,  the  smile  will  gradually  become  first  an  atti- 
tude, then  a  bearing. 

Not  only  can  we  educate  the  smile,  but  the  smile 
is  a  great  help  to  education. 

In  the  first  place,  if  a  teacher  will  study  the 
smile  of  a  little  child  he  can  frequently  discern 
inner  conditions  which  act  as  a  hindrance  to  the 
unfolding  of  the  child's  nature.  Whenever  we 
note  what  has  been  called  by  Scott  that  "  contor- 
tion of  the  visage  intended  to  be  a  smile,"  it  may 
not  be,  as  indicated,  a  suggestion  of  hypocrisy.  It 
indicates  sometimes  constrictions  or  fear.  The 
child  may  have  been  too  greatly  repressed  and 
needs  to  be  made  to  feel  at  home  with  others. 

107 


108  THESMILE 


Frequently  children  are  like  plants  in  a  dark  cellar. 
There  is  need  of  fellowship,  encouragement,  a 
chance  to  put  forth  endeavor.  A  smile  of  apprecia- 
tion may  awaken  a  smile  of  conscious  realization. 

Is  it  not  one  of  the  highest  functions  of  educa- 
tion to  awaken  joy? 

I  was  astounded  lately  to  hear  an  official  of  a 
great  art  museum  say,  "  Our  museum  is  not  an 
educational  institution.  It  does  not  exist  to  give 
people  knowledge." 

What  a  narrow  conception  of  education  did  this 
man  have !  He  was  asked,  "  What  does  it  try  to 
give  people?  "  "  Joy,"  he  answered.  But  does 
it  give  people  joy?  When  people  go  into  an  art 
museum  and  fail  to  get  the  point  of  view  of  a  pic- 
ture they  begin  to  feel  a  sense  of  distance,  and 
to  me  in  many  of  our  art  museums  the  faces  are 
very  sad.  "  Before  the  art  of  Pizarro,"  said  Philip 
Gilbert  Hammerton,  "  I  feel  like  a  stranger  who 
needs  to  be  introduced."  If  before  the  interesting 
art  of  one  of  his  contemporaries  a  great  art  critic 
could  feel  in  that  way  and  so  frankly  confess  it, 
what  must  be  the  feeling  of  the  ordinary  man  in 
one  of  our  art  museums?  Does  he  not  need  an 
introduction?  Does  he  not  need  to  be  awakened 
in  some  way,  introduced  to  what  he  ought  to  re- 
ceive, what  he  should  enjoy? 

If  the  art  museum  is  not  an  educational  institu- 
tion, must  it  not  remain  a  mere  show?  The  word 
"  education  "  must  be  widened.  The  art  museum 
should  exist  to  educate  people's  imagination  and 
cultivate  their  taste,  to  awaken  feeling,  to  educate 
ideals,  to  develop  power  to  perceive  beauty  and 
is  this  not  one  of  the  highest  phases  of  education? 

The  art  museum  exists  for  the  average  man,  for 
the  whole  community.  It  is  intended  to  render  a 


THE   SMILE  AN  EDUCATIONAL  AID     109 

great  educational  service  not  merely  to  school 
children  in  their  study  of  history,  but  to  inspire 
them  to  realize  the  spirit  of  the  historical  events 
they  have  studied.  Whoever  comes  in  touch  with 
the  spirit  of  Greece  by  the  mere  perusal  of  a 
record  of  events?  These  are  necessary,  but  they 
must  be  supplemented  by  other  great  works  of 
art,  those  things  which  embody  the  spirit.  We 
can  never  learn  to  know  Greece  so  long  as  we  re- 
main in  ignorance  of  the  Parthenon,  the  Iliad  and 
the  (Edipus.  Just  as  we  frequent  a  library  to 
understand  something  of  the  Greek  literature, 
we  should  visit  a  museum  to  feel  the  spirit  of 
their  great  art.  A  man  by  taking  a  Greek  poem 
home  with  him  may  meditate  over  it  and  come 
into  a  realization  of  its  beauty,  but  it  requires  the 
same  concentration  and  sympathy  to  appreciate 
an  art  work  which  quite  as  directly,  if  not  more 
immediately,  reveals  the  spirit  and  life  of  a  people. 

Education  is  not  the  mere  acquisition  of  facts. 
A  museum  of  natural  history  serves  a  great  end, 
but  because  an  art  museum  does  not  present  facts 
in  the  same  manner  may  it  not  be  in  a  higher  sense 
educational? 

It  gives  more  than  facts :  it  awakens  the  imagi- 
nation, the  feelings  and  the  sympathies.  It  leads 
to  a  deeper  and  truer  understanding  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  human  nature. 

Is  it  not  one  of  the  highest  aims  of  education  to 
awaken  the  enjoyment  of  people,  to  teach  them 
what  to  enjoy  and  how  to  enjoy?  It  cannot  be 
taught  by  dictation;  can  be  accomplished  only  by 
the  direction  of  attention. 

The  teacher  performs  the  simple  act  of  introduc- 
tion, but  leaves  the  student  to  study  deeper.  The 
best  and  highest  art,  no  less  than  Nature  herself, 


110  THESMILE 


requires  an  introduction  to  most  men  and  women. 
It  should  be  and  can  be  introduced  to  children. 

The  time  is  coming  when  there  will  be  a  great 
transformation  of  the  art  museums,  when  they 
will  be  less  a  treasure  house  or  mausoleum  of  art 
works  for  the  few,  but  rather  a  place  where  great 
pictures  and  statues  will  be  recognized  as  some- 
thing to  be  seen  by  all  and  felt  by  all,  such  a  place 
too  where  everyone  will  be  introduced  to  great  art 
in  a  way  that  will  lead  to  a  true  appreciation. 

True  art  is  a  temple  into  which  everyone  must 
enter  in  solitude,  but  a  true  teacher  can  indicate 
the  path.  In  one  sense  art  is  an  expression  of  the 
racial  in  us  and  to  develop  the  race  in  us  art  is 
necessary. 

Expression  is  necessary  to  the  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  every  human  being.  Have  you  ever 
seen  a  child  that  never  played?  I  remember  one 
especially.  She  had  been  a  mother  to  many  little 
brothers  and  sisters.  Her  father  was  a  poor 
workman.  Her  mother,  according  to  some  minds, 
was  not  what  she  ought  to  have  been, — she  drank 
whenever  she  had  a  chance.  The  whole  woe  of 
the  family  had  fallen  upon  this  little  girl.  How 
sad  was  her  face!  How  serious!  I  never  saw  it 
light  up  with  a  smile.  Like  an  angel  of  mercy  she 
served  patiently  without  a  murmur,  father  and 
mother  and  every  member  of  the  family.  There 
was  no  frown,  no  antagonistic  look  from  her  soft 
eyes.  Only  a  look  of  submission,  of  endurance 
without  one  ray  of  hope.  Before  that  sad  face  you 
felt  as  a  stranger.  You  stood  before  the  beautiful 
rosebud,  withered  before  it  ever  bloomed. 

Do  you  make  enough  of  joy  in  education?  I 
once  heard  a  leading  man  say,  "  I  attended  term 
after  term  under  the  instruction  of  one  who  felt 


THE   SMILE  AN  EDUCATIONAL  AID     111 

he  must  drive  the  information  into  us  by  force, — 
one  who  never  smiled.  Then  there  came  one  who 
was  full  of  smile.  He  was  not  so  good  a  scholar 
as  the  other,  it  was  said,  but  I  learned  more  under 
him  in  one  month  than  under  the  other  in  all  the 
years  I  had  been  studying  with  him." 

I  have  thought  that  sometimes  the  children 
need  more  help,  more  sympathetic  contact,  in 
their  games  than  in  their  studies. 

It  is  in  their  games  that  normal  feelings  are 
awakened;  there  they  can  smile  and  enjoy  the 
success  of  others,  laugh  at  their  own  failures.  The 
game  is  born  of  deep  human  instinct.  Certainly 
we  know  the  child  is  more  serious  at  play  than  at 
work. 

Certainly,  the  right  smile,  the  right  laugh  at  the 
right  time  is  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  im- 
portant achievements  in  education. 

In  a  certain  sense  we  cannot  teach  anything. 

"  No  man,"  said  Schlegel,  "  can  give  anything 
to  his  fellow-man  but  himself." 

What,  after  all,  is  teaching? 

As  I  look  back  over  my  past  life  and  think  of 
some  of  the  fifty  great  teachers  I  have  had, — I 
rarely  remember  the  particular  things  they  taught 
me.  The  things  I  remember  are  some  side  issues 
which  bore  only  indirectly  if  at  all  upon  the  sub- 
ject under  discussion. 

It  was  the  contact  with  their  great  souls  that 
meant  something  to  me, — the  awakening  that 
came  to  me  from  a  touch  with  their  personalities. 

No  teacher  ever  gave  a  good  lesson  in  which  he 
did  not  learn  something  himself.  The  best  lesson 
was  given  when  he  learned  most  himself. 

Is  not  teaching,  after  all,  a  contact  of  soul  with 
that  great  truth  of  which  each  of  us  knows  so 


112  THESMILE 


little?  Is  not  teaching  a  sharing  in  discovery? 
Teaching  is  not  giving  to  another,  but  a  receiving 
by  both  of  us  of  a  higher  vision  of  the  truth.  One 
may  know  much  more  than  the  other  of  some  sub- 
ject, but,  as  they  face  it,  truth  is  ever  regarded 
by  the  one  who  knows  most  about  it  as  superior 
to  himself.  One  may  know  a  little  more  than 
another  of  some  truth  as  they  face  it,  but  the  one 
who  knows  the  most  will  be  the  most  teachable 
and  will  be  apt  to  learn  most. 

When  two  people  stand  side  by  side,  both  get 
a  higher  vision  than  one  can  alone;  this  is  true 
teaching. 

So-called  instruction  is  the  very  lowest  kind  of 
teaching.  It  has  its  place  but  it  regards  merely 
the  approaches  to  truth ;  simply  how  to  investigate ; 
what  kind  of  books  to  read;  what  part  of  nature 
to  study ;  how  to  conduct  an  experiment  and  a  hint 
as  to  what  man  must  look  for  in  his  own  observa- 
tions. 

Truth  is  a  great  temple  into  which  each  person 
must  go  alone,  but  two  can  approach  the  temple 
and  may  be  very  near  to  each  other,  but  will  only 
be  partially  conscious  in  their  sublimest  moments 
of  the  meaning  and  importance  of  truth  to  each 
other. 

How  little  can  be  given  from  one  human  being 
to  another  by  dictation,  by  domination!  Educa- 
tion is  a  leading  out,  an  unfolding,  an  awakening. 
It  is  the  bringing  of  an  individual  into  conscious- 
ness of  himself  and  a  consciousness  of  his  source, 
and  the  consciousness  of  his  brothers. 

Teach  a  smile?  Yes,  it  is  the  one  thing  that 
brings  soul  near  to  soul, — the  basis  of  all  teaching. 

The  smile  denotes  the  union  of  two  beings  learn- 
ing from  and  with  each  other. 


THE   SMILE  AN  EDUCATIONAL  AID     113 

In  the  old  days,  especially  in  the  time  of  the 
Romans,  education  was  a  very  cruel  process. 
One  old  teacher  of  the  Middle  Ages  has  recorded 
faithfully  the  number  of  whippings  and  other 
forms  of  punishment  he  had  given  as  if  it  were 
the  greatest  of  virtues  and  the  highest  aim  of  his 
life. 

If  we  look  through  the  reforms  in  education  we 
will  find  a  great  change.  No  longer  do  we  call 
the  pedagogue  "  the  servant  who  drives  the  un- 
willing student  to  school,"  as  the  etymology  of 
the  word  indicates.  He  is  a  companion  and  friend 
who  leads  the  pupil  to  something  that  becomes  a 
mutual  delight  and  joy.  It  is  from  the  teacher 
who  is  loved  that  the  student  learns. 

Not  only  is  the  smile  an  aid  to  education;  it  is 
now  a  necessity.  Love  is  the  fulfilment  of  the 
law, — not  only  of  the  spirit  but  the  development 
of  human  relationship. 

An  old  adage  tells  us,  "  Love  is  blind."  This 
is  untrue.  "  Love,"  says  Emerson,  "  is  not  a 
hood,  but  an  eye  waterer." 

The  smile  also  denotes  teachableness.  Of  all 
virtues  teachableness  is  perhaps  the  supreme. 
Any  teacher  has  seen  one  of  great  ability  outdone 
by  another  of  lesser  ability  simply  because  one 
was  teachable,  tried  hard  and  developed,  the 
other  with  pride  for  smartness  grew  less  and  less 
profound,  more  and  more  brilliant,  but  never  un- 
folded or  caught  the  higher  vision. 

Carlyle  has  recorded  a  peculiar  fable  which 
illustrates  something  which  is  often  overlooked, — 
that  the  pupil  who  learns  and  grows  most  quickly 
may  not  be  of  so  true  and  profound  a  nature  as 
the  one  who  is  slower  to  unfold. 

"  What  is  the  use  of  thee,  thou  gnarled  sapling?" 


114  THE   SMILE 


said  a  young  larch  tree  to  a  young  oak.  "  I  grow 
three  feet  in  a  year,  thou  scarcely  so  many  inches ; 
I  am  straight  and  taper  as  a  reed,  thou  straggling 
and  twisted  as  a  loosened  withe." 

"  And  thy  duration,"  answered  the  oak,  "  is 
some  third  part  of  a  man's  life  and  I  am  appointed 
to  flourish  for  a  thousand  years.  Thou  art  felled 
and  sawed  into  paling,  where  thou  rottest  and 
art  burned  with  a  single  summer;  of  me  are 
fashioned  battle  ships,  and  I  carry  mariners  and 
heroes  into  unknown  seas." 

"  The  richer  a  nature,"  continues  Carlyle, 
"  the  harder  and  slower  its  development.  Two 
boys  were  once  of  a  class  in  the  Edinburgh  gram- 
mar school.  John  ever  trim,  precise,  and  dux; 
Walter  ever  slovenly,  confused  and  dolt.  In  due 
time,  John  became  Baillie  John  of  Hunter-Square, 
and  Walter  became  Sir  Walter  Scott  of  the  Uni- 
verse. The  quickest  and  completest  of  all  vege- 
tables is  the  cabbage." 


XIV 
NEGATIVE  OR  POSITIVE? 

All  human  emotions  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes ;  positive  and  negative. 

The  smile  is  primarily  positive.  It  expresses  a 
positive  attitude  of  the  mind. 

It  is  important  to  distinguish  the  positive  from 
the  negative  emotions. 

The  negative  feeling  tends  to  kill  itself.  It  is 
short  lived.  It  poisons  everyone.  It  brings  pain 
and  sickness,  and  shortens  life. 

A  positive  emotion  brings  health  and  peace. 
It  assimilates,  strengthens,  and  expresses  power. 
It  brings  greater  pleasure ;  it  brings  union  with  our 
fellow-men  and  permanent  satisfaction  with  our- 
selves. It  deepens  experience  and  prolongs  life. 

Positive  emotions  seem  to  place  man  in  his  right 
relation  in  the  universe. 

The  most  important  positive  emotions  are, 
probably,  love  and  joy. 

Joy,  love,  courage,  these  are  realizations  of 
one's  birthright. 

Negative  emotions,  on  the  contrary,  deny  man 
his  birthright.  Fear,  hate,  grief,  cause  us  to  whine 
and  degrade  us;  they  remove  our  candlestick  out 
of  its  place  so  that  our  light  ceases  to  shine. 

The  true  smile  expresses  the  positive  emotions ; 
is  always  positive,  not  negative.  It  is  the  very 
contradiction  of  all  negative  emotions. 

Life  is  a  positive  thing.    A  crown  not  to  be  won 

115 


116  THESMILE 


by  mere  denials.  "  Thou  shall  not  "  belongs  to  the 
old  dispensation ;  "  Blessed,"  to  the  new. 

People  seem  to  think  that  sin  is  the  most  real 
thing  in  this  world, — that  darkness  is  more  real 
than  light. 

Not  so;  we  can  bring  light  through  a  tube  or 
along  a  wire  but  how  can  we  transmit  darkness? 
If  we  turn  off  the  light,  its  absence  becomes  dark- 
ness; but  when  we  turn  on  the  light  again  the 
darkness  vanishes.  How  then,  dare  we  say  that 
darkness  is  as  real  as  light— that  evil  is  as  sub- 
stantial as  good? 

Here  is  one  of  the  greatest  lessons  to  be  learned 
in  life. 

Ulysses,  or  to  use  his  Greek  name,  Odysseus, 
stopped  the  ears  of  his  sailors  with  wax  and  tied 
himself  to  a  mast  that  he  might  hear  but  not  yield 
to  the  seductive  song  of  the  sirens.  Orpheus  sailed 
by  in  safety  with  no  rope  about  him  and  with  no 
wax  in  his  ears,  because  his  soul  was  filled  with 
sweeter  music  than  even  the  sirens  could  utter. 
He  who  has  cultivated  a  love  for  his  race  and  whose 
soul  is  filled  with  sympathy  and  tenderness  can 
smile  at  an  insult. 

There  is  a  parable  of  an  empty  heart  in  the 
New  Testament  which  is  seldom  read  and  then 
possibly,  rarely  understood. 

A  man  seems  to  have  cast  out  "  the  unclean 
spirit  "  by  resolutions  or  by  his  own  will. 

Then  he  walketh  through  dry  places,  seeking 
rest  and  findeth  none.  Then  he  saith,  "  I  will 
return  to  my  house  from  whence  I  came  out." 
And  when  he  is  come  he  findeth  it  empty,  swept, 
and  garnished.  Then  he  goeth  and  taketh  seven 
other  spirits  more  wicked  than  himself,  and  they 
enter  and  dwell  therein.  And  the  last  state  of 


NEGATIVE  OR  POSITIVE? 117 

that  man  is  worse  than  the  first.  The  trouble 
was  that  the  man's  heart  was  empty. 

He  who  can  smile  is  victor  over  himself, — over 
his  lower  impulses;  and  he  also  becomes  victor 
over  all  his  antagonists.  He  wins  a  victory  that 
does  not  crush  his  enemies,  but  makes  them 
better,  makes  them  ashamed  of  their  degrada- 
tion, and  turns  them  into  friends. 

Surely  the  smile  is  one  of  the  most  powerful 
weapons  in  life's  path. 

It  is  moral,  it  is  ethical,  it  is  spiritual.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  potent  tools  given  to  the  race  to  con- 
quer hatred  and  antagonism. 


XV 
THE  SMILE  AND  HEALTH 

The  distinction  between  the  positive  and  the 
negative  in  human  feeling  explains  a  fact  that  is 
almost  universally  recognized,  namely,  that  cheer- 
fulness and  the  smile  are  necessary  to  health. 

Some  of  the  oldest  and  truest  proverbs,  born  out 
of  the  very  heart  of  the  race,  refer  to  the  necessity 
of  enjoyment  to  health. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  most  successful 
physicians  accomplish  much  of  the  good  results 
which  follow  from  their  ministrations  by  the  genial 
smile  and  the  cheerful  voice  they  carry  into  the 
sick  room.  Their  presence  brings  courage  and 
confidence. 

I  have  heard  recently  of  a  physician,  in  fact,  of 
a  class  of  physicians,  who  give  no  medicine  at  all 
but  prescribe  only  laughter. 

The  smile  and  laughter  directly  express  health. 
The  presence  of  the  smile  is  the  test  of  the  health 
of  a  little  child.  The  true  smile  not  only  expresses 
physical  health,  but  expresses  mental  and  moral 
health  as  well. 

How  does  the  smile  or  laughter  affect  the 
health? 

In  the  first  place,  they  cause  activity  in  the  ex- 
tensor or  expansive  muscles ;  they  increase  breath- 
ing; they  stimulate  circulation;  they  bring  all  the 
vital  functions  and  organs  into  harmonious  ac- 
tivity. 

118 


THE   SMILE  AND   HEALTH 119 

There  are  really  but  three  actions  of  the  human 
body — expansion,  contraction  and  modulation. 
Expansion  expresses  life,  joy,  exultation,  courage ; 
contraction  expresses  intellectual  effort,  control, 
repression,  uneasiness,  and  fear. 

Modulation,  which  is  more  or  less  a  union  of 
expansion  and  contraction,  but  in  fact,  a  normal 
union  with  expansion  in  a  natural  ascendency  and 
only  enough  contraction  to  regulate  and  guide, 
expresses  sympathy,  tenderness,  gentleness  and 
love.  It  manifests  a  perfect  balance  between 
thinking  and  feeling — between  spontaneous  ac- 
tions and  deliberative  regulations — between  the 
work  of  that  which  is  finite  and  that  which  is  more 
the  result  of  the  infinite.  Modulation  is  a  sym- 
pathetic union  of  man's  highest  realizations, — 
love,  contentment,  and  poetic  exultation. 

Accordingly,  normal  modulation  is  expressive 
not  only  of  physical  but  also  of  spiritual  health. 
In  order  to  develop  in  all  parts  of  the  body  modula- 
tion, which  is  seen  to  its  perfection  in  the  ideal 
smile,  it  is  necessary  to  accentuate  harmoniously 
all  the  expansive  activities  of  the  body.  This  de- 
velops not  only  grace,  power  of  expression,  but 
also  health. 

Laughter  seems  to  be  not  only  the  most  im- 
mediate expression  of  health,  but  the  most  direct 
expression  of  life, 

Take,  for  example,  a  so-called  "  cold."  What 
better  remedy  for  a  cold  than  to  go  away  by  one- 
self and  laugh  for  half  an  hour.  This  laughter 
stimulates  the  circulation  and  removes  congestion 
from  local  parts.  Hot  lemonade  heats  the  centre 
of  the  body  and  thus  stimulates  circulation  and 
in  a  similar  way  carries  off  congestion.  From  a 
hot  lemonade  and  especially  from  drugs  poured 


120  THESMILE 


into  the  stomach  there  is  always  danger  of  re- 
action and  we  take,  as  everybody  says,  "  more 
cold." 

Laughter  has  no  abnormal  re-action.  The  re- 
sults are  more  permanent.  In  proportion  to  the 
spiritual  character  of  the  remedy  applied  will  there 
be  an  absence  of  reactionary  tendencies.  I  have 
never  come  in  contact  with  physicians  who  pre- 
scribe nothing  but  laughter,  but  I  have  well 
realized  the  results  of  laughing  heartily  and  con- 
tinuously for  many  minutes.  Nothing  will  stimu- 
late circulation  more  or  have  a  better  effect  upon 
the  nervous  system;  nothing  will  agitate  equally 
well  and  move  to  normal  activity  the  vital  organs. 

There  is  really  no  reason  for  being  sick.  It  is 
a  negative  condition,  the  result  of  a  negative  state 
of  mind  and  the  true  remedy  is  to  establish  a  posi- 
tive condition  of  mind. 

Laughter  should  not  be  performed  in  a  me- 
chanical, perfunctory  way.  True  laughter  results 
from  imagination,  sympathy,  courage,  confidence, 
and  a  realization  that  error  is  absolutely  ridiculous, 
— that  only  truth  is  permanent  and  real. 

When  tempted  to  become  despondent  or  angry 
we  should  look  at  the  ridiculous  side  of  things, 
we  should  realize  and  express  sympathy  rather 
than  antagonism,  joy  rather  than  discouragement. 
We  can  see  the  ridiculous  side  of  a  situation  and 
by  training  our  sense  of  humor  we  may  no  longer 
be  victims  of  folly  and  illusion. 

When  we  laugh  with  a  man  or  even  at  him  he 
soon  sees  the  ridiculousness  of  the  situation  him- 
self. There  is  nothing  so  contagious  as  laughter. 
The  greatest  difficulties  have  been  conquered  by 
a  smile  or  a  joyous  laugh. 

There  is  one  time  in  the  day  when  we  especially 


THE   SMILE   AND   HEALTH 121 

need  laughter,  and  that  is  on  awakening  and  on 
retiring.  In  a  companion  book  these  profound 
questions  of  how  to  wake  and  how  to  go  to  sleep 
are  discussed,  but  we  need  line  upon  line  to  em- 
phasize the  importance  of  these  hours  and  the 
importance  of  laughter. 

On  first  waking  up  the  birds  sing  their  sweetest 
song  and  all  the  animals  seem  to  awaken  with 
greatest  joy.  Rarely,  however,  is  this  true  of  man. 
Many  wake  up  with  a  whine — with  the  very  op- 
posite of  a  smile. 

How  greatly  is  the  man  to  be  pitied  who  dresses 
with  a  whine  and  a  frown  on  his  face,  and  who 
comes  down  to  breakfast  and  has  to  have  a  hot 
cup  of  coffee  to  wake  him  up, — his  voice  in  a 
wheeze  and  his  body  collapsed  and  not  ready  to 
do  its  work.  The  poor  stomach  must  be  made  a 
lever  to  bring  the  man  into  wakefulness,  when  a 
smile  and  a  few  stretches  could  do  the  work  and 
do  it  better  as  the  sunshine  makes  the  world. 

Begin  the  day  as  the  bird,  with  a  song  and  a 
word  of  praise,  or  as  the  old  cow  does,  in  giving 
the  stretches  which  she  seems  to  enjoy  so  much. 
Every  cell  and  fibre  seems  to  laugh  at  the  instinc- 
tive exertion. 


XVI 
ETHICS  OF  AMUSEMENT 

To  cause  people  to  smile  is  the  aim  of  the  art 
of  entertainment,  of  amusement. 

Is  there  any  principle  that  will  furnish  a  ra- 
tional test  of  the  difference  between  a  low  and  a 
high  amusement? 

Over  thirty  years  ago,  I  was  calling  with  some 
friends  upon  the  poet  Whittier.  Celia  Thaxter 
came  in  from  a  visit  to  a  woman's  reformatory. 
"  How  hast  thou  succeeded?"  said  Mr.  Whittier. 
"  Oh!  "  she  exclaimed,  "  I  never  saw  such  a  lot 
of  blank  faces.  I  could  not  awaken  the  least  re- 
sponse at  first,  but  I  read  the  *  Shorn  Lamb  * 
and  to  use  a  sailor's  phrase,  that  '  fetched  them ' : 
I  pleased  them,  anyway." 

"  If  thou  hast  pleased  them,"  replied  the  great- 
hearted poet,  "  thou  hast  done  them  good." 

Here,  then,  is  a  principle  that  came  to  me  as  I 
looked  into  that  kindly  face : — if  a  man  is  pleased 
above  the  plane  of  his  daily  experiences  in  the 
direction  of  his  ideal,  he  receives  good.  If  he  is 
pleased  below  the  average  plane  of  his  experience, 
he  receives  harm. 

Browning  has  said  that  the  ideal  of  the  worst 
man  in  the  world  is  higher  than  the  actual  of  the 
best  man  in  the  world.  No  matter  who  the  man 
may  be,  if  he  is  pleased  in  the  direction  of  his  ideals 
he  is  awakened  and  inspired  and  helped. 

There  is  a  low  sensual  smile,  a  pure  intellectual 
smile,  and  a  deeper,  spiritual  smile. 

122 


ETHICS   OF  AMUSEMENT 123 

Blessed  is  he  who  multiplies  and  especially 
elevates  the  smiles  of  his  fellow-men ! 

Can  we  do  anything  for  the  man,  or  with  him, 
till  we  have  made  him  smile?  When  we  displease 
anyone  we  shut  him  out  from  ourselves.  Is  it  such 
a  degraded  and  weak  thing,  therefore,  to  endeavor 
to  please  our  fellow- men? 

Does  not  the  kind  of  smile  that  is  awakened 
depend  upon  what  we  have  in  view  and  the  way 
we  do  it? 

May  it  not  be  the  first  and  most  necessary  step 
toward  the  effort  of  human  elevation? 

This  aspect  of  the  smile  brings  us  to  an  impor- 
tant distinction,  which  is  often  overlooked.  What 
is  the  difference  between  the  effect  of  a  low  amuse- 
ment and  that  of  a  high  amusement?  Is  there  any 
way  in  which  we  can  rank  the  character  of  enter- 
tainments? Is  there  anything  that  will  guide  us 
in  distinguishing  between  what  is  known  in  Eng- 
land as  the  "  legitimate  "  from  the  "  illegitimate  " 
drama? 

Smiles  may  be  produced  by  low  means  as  well 
as  by  higher  methods.  While  the  higher  methods 
are  most  important  in  the  elevation  of  the  race,  in 
awakening  the  ideals  of  young  minds,  stimulating 
in  them  better,  deeper  and  purer  human  sym- 
pathies, low  amusements,  which  may  seem  to 
please  more  quickly  are  among  the  most  influen- 
tial means  for  the  degradation  of  character  that 
can  be  found.  Next  to  low  actions  themselves, 
the  sympathetic  contemplation  of  that  which  is 
coarse,  or  whatever  perverts  the  smile,  poisons 
the  very  fountain  head  of  human  experience  and 
ideals. 

The  play,  according  to  Shakespeare,  is  the  thing. 

What  are  the  forms  of  the  drama?     What  is 


124  THE   SMILE 


the  principle  that  separates  these  forms?  Which 
of  these  appeals  to  the  higher  nature,  which  to  the 
lower,  and  why? 

Drama  is  usually  divided  into  four  forms: 
burlesque,  farce,  comedy,  tragedy.  What  dis- 
tinguishes these  from  one  another? 

A  mode  of  expression  which  may  be  truly  inter- 
preted and  genuinely  artistic  in  burlesque,  may 
be  utterly  out  of  place  in  comedy;  things  permis- 
sible in  comedy  may  be  absolutely  out  of  place  in 
tragedy. 

Can  no  light  be  thrown  upon  the  distinctions 
between  burlesque,  farce,  comedy  and  tragedy, 
by  the  smile? 

Artists  sometimes  present  sublime  things  in 
such  an  exaggerated  and  extravagant  way  as  to 
pervert  them.  It  is  but  a  step  from  the  sublime  to 
the  ridiculous  and  it  is  very  easy  for  the  crude  ar- 
tist, who  lacks  ideals  or  a  high  conception  of  his 
art,  to  take  that  step.  Artists  are  more  apt  to 
do  this  in  the  higher  than  in  the  lower  forms  of 
art.  The  higher  the  art,  the  more  liable  the  artist 
is  to  fail. 

Some  men  think  that  because  they  happen  to 
be  reading  "  Macbeth  "  or  "  Hamlet  "  they  are, 
therefore,  in  the  realm  of  the  highest  art. 

An  amateur  actor,  after  he  had  murdered  cer- 
tain lines  from  "  Hamlet,"  at  which  the  audience 
howled  and  hissed,  stood  in  the  wings  and  ex- 
claimed in  anger,  "  Listen  to  the  vulgar  mob  howl- 
ing at  Shakespeare." 

A  little  burlesque  might  have  revealed  to  him 
that  he  was  not  in  the  sphere  of  Shakespeare's 
tragedy  at  all.  He  rendered  those  sublime  lines 
in  a  spirit  which  tended  toward  burlesque. 

The  dramatic  arts  are  the  most  potent  for  good 


ETHICS   OF  AMUSEMENT 125 

or  evil  of  all  forms  of  art.  They  concern  the  smiles 
and  the  tears  of  human  beings.  How  can  we 
distinguish  between  what  is  low  and  what  is 
high? 

Let  me  further  illustrate  some  of  these  forms 
of  the  drama.  Once,  a  company  devoted  to  dra- 
matic burlesque  staged  a  scene  from  "Romeo 
and  Juliet"  in  an  endeavor  to  caricature  the  ex- 
travagance of  modern  stage  setting  and  scenery. 

The  actor  repeated  Romeo's  words,  "  By  yonder 
moon  I  swear."  Laying  his  hands  upon  his  breast, 
he  looked  around  for  the  moon,  but  for  some 
reason  it  had  not  risen,  so  he  called  out,  "You 
moon  man,  pull  up  the  moon,"  whereupon  the 
moon  suddenly  arose — pulled  up  by  a  string.  The 
actor  went  on  repeating  the  words  in  his  extrava- 
gant manner. 

Here  was  a  true  criticism  from  the  burlesque 
point  of  view.  It  caricatured  the  extravagance  in 
the  production  of  even  Shakespeare  in  our  day. 
The  burlesque  is  a  necessary  mode  of  criticism. 
It  is  a  necessary  mode  of  criticism  upon  art. 

It  is  a  blessed  thing  that  sometimes  a  friend, 
instead  of  weeping  with  us,  laughs  at  us.  Thus 
even  burlesque  becomes  a  part  of  life. 

In  the  newspapers  of  to-day  caricature  serves  a 
very  wonderful  purpose.  It  gives  not  only  the 
quickest  but  often  the  deepest  criticism  upon  some 
situation  or  character. 

Another  form  of  dramatic  art  is  farce.  Farce  is 
the  laughing,  not  so  much  at  people,  as  at  a  situa- 
tion. It  is  extravagant,  but  not  founded  on  the 
caricature  of  characters.  It  is  very  close  to  bur- 
lesque and  is  often  confused  with  it. 

The  power  to  laugh  at  a  situation  is  one  of  the 
greatest  powers  in  the  human  heart.  How  many 


126  THESMILE 


unpleasant  things  have  been  averted;  how  many 
times  has  a  brave  man  controlled  himself  by  being 
able  to  see  the  ridiculous  element  in  the  situation ; 
and  how  many  of  the  worst  things  in  the  world 
have  vanished  when  laughed  at ! 

When  we  laugh  with  a  man  we  are  on  a  higher 
plane  of  art  than  when  we  laugh  at  him  or  at  a 
ridiculous  situation.  This  is  why  comedy  is  so 
high  a  form  of  art — why  it  is  serious.  It  is  founded 
in  a  more  genuine,  sympathetic  way  than  burlesque 
or  farce.  In  comedy  we  laugh  with  the  character 
represented.  The  subject  is  not  a  caricature  of 
any  art  work  or  poor  artistic  endeavor,  nor  is  it  the 
expression  of  a  ridiculous  situation.  Its  subject 
is  the  lives  and  peculiarities  of  specific  types  of 
human  beings. 

Garrick,  when  asked  whether  he  preferred  to 
act  in  tragedy  or  in  comedy,  replied,  "  I  can  act 
tragedy  every  day  in  the  week,  but  comedy  is 
serious  business." 

The  highest  form  of  dramatic  art  is  tragedy. 
In  comedy  we  laugh  with  people;  in  tragedy  we 
weep  with  them.  Both  are  serious  and  bring  us 
into  the  very  highest  phases  of  human  sym- 
pathy. 

It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  distinguish  between 
comedy  and  tragedy.  The  Merchant  of  Venice, 
for  example,  is  called  a  comedy.  Henry  A.  Clapp, 
a  dramatic  critic,  contends  that  it  is  a  tragedy. 
Taking  the  first  four  acts  and  omitting  the  last, 
there  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  this  view. 
The  character  of  Shylock  is  serious.  It  represents 
perversion  of  a  national  character.  According  to 
Aristotle,  the  determining  factor,  that  which  de- 
cides the  dignity  of  art,  is  a  "  higher  truth  and  a 
higher  seriousness."  The  distinction  between 


ETHICS  OF  AMUSEMENT 127 

comedy  and  tragedy  is  sometimes  settled  by  a 
very  easy  scheme.  Tragedy  is  a  play  in  which 
someone  is  killed,  and  comedy,  one  in  which  no 
one  is  killed.  According  to  this,  the  Merchant 
of  Venice  would  be  considered  a  comedy. 

Compare  this  play  with  Cymbeline.  Merely  be- 
cause Cloten  is  killed,  Cymbeline  is  regarded  by 
most  people  as  a  tragedy.  The  fact  is  overlooked 
that  everyone  is  glad  that  Cloten  is  killed.  He 
richly  deserved  his  end.  Certainly  his  death 
would  not  make  Cymbeline  a  tragedy.  If  it  is  a 
tragedy,  it  must  be  on  account  of  the  seriousness 
of  the  character  of  Imogen. 

In  the  highest  Shakespearean  tragedy  we  both 
laugh  and  weep  with  men.  The  same  is  often  true 
of  his  comedies.  The  difference  must  be  decided 
by  the  predominance  of  smiles  or  tears.  Both 
may  be  dignified. 

A  smile  may  be  almost  as  supreme  as  a  tear. 
A  smile  may  shine  through  tears  and  yet  not  de- 
grade them.  Both  may  express  sympathy,  and 
they  are  closely  conjoined  in  human  life.  The 
distinction  between  comedy  and  tragedy  may, 
after  all,  be  somewhat  academic.  Shakespeare 
certainly  has  not  left  their  distinction  clearly 
marked. 

Melodrama,  though  extremely  popular,  is  a 
low  form  of  dramatic  art.  Why?  Because  it  lacks 
a  smile.  The  audience  is  kept  under  a  strain  by 
a  most  serious  situation.  It  may  cause  tears,  until 
at  the  last  everything  is  so  completely  changed 
that  the  relief  hardly  brings  a  smile.  The  trans- 
formation is  often  so  sudden  and  so  foreign  to  real 
truth  that  we  are  unable  to  smile.  Sometimes  we 
may  actually  laugh  at  the  artificiality  of  the  situa- 
tion. Thus,  melodrama  may  become  a  kind  of 


128  THESMILE 


tragical  farce.  It  is  the  situation  and  not  the  char- 
acter that  is  mainly  at  stake. 

The  drama  reflects  in  its  deepest  and  truest 
aspect  two  sides  of  human  endeavor:  one,  victory 
through  man's  effort  or  through  fortuitous  circum- 
stances; the  other  the  seeming  failure  but  real 
victory  which  may  come  through  death.  Human 
victory  may  be  gained  in  either  way. 

Melodrama  is  really  a  juggling  with  tragedy, 
the  reducing  of  tragedy  to  mere  situation  and  cir- 
cumstance ;  it  is  human  art  monkeying  with  human 
destiny. 

Colley  Gibber  once  rewrote  the  tragedy  of  King 
Lear.  He  killed  the  villain,  Edmund.  Cordelia 
lived.  The  king  of  France  he  got  rid  of.  Edgar 
and  Cordelia  were  wedded  and  become  respec- 
tively King  and  Queen  of  England.  This  pro- 
cedure pleased  the  superficiality  of  a  superficial 
age.  But  how  untrue  to  life  and  to  Shakespeare 
himself. 

Melodrama  is  not  a  serious  form  of  art.  There 
can  be  no  great  art  without  truth  or  true  interpre- 
tation, manifestation  or  reflection  of  truth. 

Primarily  there  are  only  two  forms  of  the  drama, 
comedy  and  tragedy.  Both  of  these  reflect  human 
history.  Comedy  reflects  the  joyous  outcome  of 
heroic  endeavor,  the  transformation  wrought  by 
time  and  circumstances.  Tragedy  also  reveals 
victory,  but  the  victory  which  comes  through 
death. 

It  is  easy  to  find  the  highest  dignity  of  man  or 
his  lowest  degradation  in  the  character  of  his 
smile.  The  vulgar  story  which  seems  to  be  the 
chief  source  of  amusement  to  many  minds,  de- 
grades both  the  relator  and  the  listener.  It  is 
a  good  principle  to  remember  that  all  true  art  lies 


ETHICS   OF  AMUSEMENT 129 

above  man's  actual  experience  in  the  direction  of 
his  ideals.  Whatever  lies  below  the  ordinary 
plane  of  his  feeling,  whatever  seems  to  please  him 
below  his  habitual  level  of  thought  and  emotion 
tends  to  ruin  his  character. 

The  coarse  smile  is  the  worst  of  all  perversions. 
Every  form  of  art  has  its  place.  There  is  such  a 
thing  as  artistic  burlesque.  As  I  have  said,  bur- 
lesque is  the  lowest  form  of  dramatic  art.  It  is  a 
kind  of  criticism;  it  may  help  people  to  discover 
weaknesses  in  some  art  which  ought  to  be  of  a 
higher  type  but  which  is  on  a  low  plane. 

We  may  have  farce  of  a  high  order.  The  theme 
of  farce  is  not  character  but  situation,  and  in  it 
there  are  ridiculous  situations.  They  pass  beyond 
the  bounds  of  comedy  into  that  of  farce,  and  ar- 
tistic farce  makes  us  conscious  of  this.  In  farce  we 
laugh  at  a  man;  in  comedy  we  laugh  with  him. 
Comedy,  therefore,  is  not  a  low  form  of  art  because 
it  is  true  and  awakens  a  noble  smile.  It  illustrates 
more  of  the  deep  things  of  our  nature.  In  tragedy, 
if  there  is  a  smile,  it  is  like  the  fool  in  King  Lear; 
beneath  his  smile  we  hear  the  sob  and  feel  treas- 
ured tears. 

Another  test  of  the  dignity  or  lack  of  dignity 
in  all  the  arts,  but  especially  those  which  cause 
the  smile,  is  simplicity.  The  burlesque  is  extrava- 
gant, so  is  farce,  so  is  melodrama.  Hence,  they 
are  of  a  lower  order,  while  comedy  and  tragedy 
are  simple,  true  and  genuine.  Hence,  they  belong 
to  a  higher  rank.  It  is  a  question  of  truth  to  life; 
it  is  a  question  of  truthfully  mirroring  human  ex- 
perience. Those  who  interpret  human  character 
must  interpret  correctly.  Truth  alone  has  power 
to  elevate  and  ennoble. 

Public    readers,    so-called    impersonators,    as 


130  THE   SMILE 


well  as  actors,  would  do  well  to  consider  carefully 
the  dignity  of  their  art. 

Impersonators  and  reciters  of  all  sorts,  extrava- 
gant and  untruthful  interpreters,  have  almost 
ruined  the  noble  art.  Charlotte  Cushman  and 
others  gave,  forty  years  ago,  high  ideals  for  the 
platform.  Sydney  Lanier  and  others  expressed 
enthusiasm  over  the  possibilities  of  the  new  dra- 
matic art ;  but  there  came  along  a  lot  of  self-styled 
impersonators  who  tried  to  imitate  all  the  methods 
of  the  stage,  who  failed  to  recognize  the  difference 
between  the  dramatic  stage  and  dramatic  plat- 
form art,  and  did  not  follow  Charlotte  Cushman, 
who  was  artist  enough  to  appreciate  the  greatness 
of  the  difference. 

All  sorts  of  unnatural  extravagance  and  false 
interpretations  have  followed,  working  great  harm. 
Many  readers  have  either  cut  down  the  popular 
plays  or  used  popular  stories  or  low- class  literature 
and  are  in  danger  of  degrading  the  whole  work  of 
vocal  interpretation.  The  artistic  and  simple  in- 
terpretation of  literature,  the  rendering  of  Brown- 
ing's monologues,  the  recognition  that  these  forms 
of  dramatic  platform  art  have  wonderful  possibili- 
ties is  one  of  the  artistic  advancements  of  our 
time.  Readers,  however,  must  be  careful  to  rise 
to  the  dignified  study  of  the  art,  so  that  they  may 
truthfully  interpret  the  best  in  literature.  The 
old  and  more  solid  dramas  must  not  be  replaced 
by  superficial  things,  in  an  endeavor  to  be  popular. 
We  must  not  cease  to  hold  to  the  fact  that  each 
art  tells  something  which  no  other  art  can  say, 
and  must  respect  its  own  independence. 

A  great  artistic  age  is  always  shown  in  the  effect 
of  art  upon  the  simplest  things.  The  Greeks 
could  make  a  common  jug  more  beautiful  than 


ETHICS   OF  AMUSEMENT 131 

moderns  do  their  public  monuments.  The  frag- 
ments of  their  every-day  utensils  often  fill  the 
modern  mind  with  wonder. 

If  we  are  to  be  an  artistic  people,  the  time 
usually  worse  than  wasted  in  every  household, 
should  be  devoted  by  all  to  endeavoring  to  make 
something  beautiful,  or  in  some  way  to  realize 
the  ideal.  Every  child  should  be  awakened  to 
create  something  ideal. 

What  greater  joy  is  to  be  found  than  in  seeing 
something  beautiful  unfolding  before  our  eyes, 
under  our  own  hands? 

William  Morris  said,  "  Art  is  joy  put  into  our 
work."  That  is  to  say,  in  the  vocabulary  of  this 
book,  art  is  working  with  a  smile.  Work  that  may 
be  drudgery  to  some  men,  when  joy  is  put  into 
the  heart  of  it,  becomes  a  fine  art. 

Here  is  a  carpenter  making  a  chair.  He  carves 
the  head  of  a  dog  on  the  end  of  its  square  arm, 
and  lo,  you  have  a  thing  of  beauty, — something 
that  has  higher  value  because  you  have  the  delight 
of  the  man  in  his  work. 

Some  people  think  that  art  is  something  very 
exceptional,  very  rare,  unusual,  something  only 
for  the  wealthy.  On  the  contrary,  art  belongs  to 
every-day  life.  It  is  working  in  obedience  to  the 
imagination  under  the  stimulus  of  an  ideal.  It  is 
putting  love,  affection  and  delight  into  the  things 
we  do.  It  is  giving  expression  to  our  better  selves, 
to  our  higher  feelings,  not  doing  things  perfunc- 
torily just  because  we  have  to.  Art  is  work  with 
a  smile  of  joy. 

Dishwashing  may  seem  to  be  the  furthest  re- 
moved from  art,  but  one  that  loves  beauty  does 
not  look  at  the  dirt,  but  at  the  dish  that  is  being 
separated  from  what  does  not  belong  to  it. 


132  THESMILE 


'  What  are  you  doing?  "  said  a  neighbor  to  a 
man  who  stood  with  a  hose  pouring  the  water  upon 
a  pile  of  dishes  on  his  lawn.  "  I  am  cleaning  up, 
the  missus  comes  home  to-morrow."  He  was  no 
artist.  He  was  working  under  compulsion. 

The  ideal  sweeper  sees  the  clean  room  under  the 
dirt — the  desk  as  a  clean  place  for  work,  not  for 
chaos  and  litter.  (I  am  glad  the  reader  cannot 
see  my  desk  at  this  time). 

Old  Teufelsdroeckh  was  wrong.  Dirt  and  con- 
fusion in  a  room  where  one  works  are  a  hindrance, 
not  a  help.  "  Art,"  somebody  has  said,  "  is  the 
removal  of  rubbish." 

A  wise  man  understood  the  matter  perfectly 
when  he  said  to  a  literary  worker,  "  Your  illusion 
of  overwork  is  due  to  such  a  vast  number  of  un- 
finished things  around  you.  Take  hold  of  one 
thing  and  stick  to  it  until  it  is  finished.  Then  you 
will  feel  rested  and  like  a  new  man.  Nothing  else 
will  help  you." 

The  true  artist  sees  the  beautiful  book  that  is 
to  come  forth  from  a  vast  number  of  scratched  and 
dirty  sheets. 

Life  is  the  greatest  of  all  the  arts,  and  expression 
is  next  to  it  because  action  and  voice  modulations, 
the  true  natural  languages,  are  the  direct  signs  of 
the  motive  springs  of  life.  Tones  and  actions  in 
their  unity  as  interpreting  words  are  closer  to 
nature  than  is  possible  for  any  other  art. 

There  is  an  element  of  truth  in  what  some 
people  say,  that  vocal  expression  is  not  art  at  all, 
that  action  of  the  body  and  the  modulations  of  the 
voice  are  too  near  to  Nature,  that  they  cannot  be 
sufficiently  objectified  to  make  art.  They  are 
only  the  material  of  art. 

All  art,  however,  is  near  to  nature,  the  nearer  the 


ETHICS   OF  AMUSEMENT 133 

better.  It  is  not  the  objectifying  of  art  that  makes 
it  art.  Nor  is  it  the  permanent  record  of  expres- 
sion. Art  is  art  on  account  of  the  depth  of  our  ex- 
perience it  expresses  and  the  truthfulness  of  its 
revelation,  whether  it  lives  a  thousand  years  or 
dies  the  moment  it  is  born. 

We  must,  however,  recognize  that  it  is  through 
the  glory  of  these  languages  and  their  artistic 
control  that  we  do  get  so  close  to  Nature.  But 
for  this  very  reason  there  is  great  danger  of  violat- 
ing artistic  principles. 

The  other  arts  are  a  little  more  artificial  and 
objective,  and  external.  Even  song,  though  hav- 
ing a  normal  basis,  has  modulations  of  pitch  which 
are  not  found  in  the  more  natural  modulations  in 
speech. 

The  other  arts  are,  therefore,  reflections  or 
records  of  expression.  They  are  human  endeavors 
to  embody  objectively  and  permanently  the  pro- 
cesses and  modes  of  expression  in  Nature. 

Hence,  the  laws  of  the  arts  are  found,  as  I  say 
again  and  again,  in  some  natural  expression,  such 
as  the  smile.  Expression  is  the  direct  effect  of  the 
activity  of  being  upon  the  action  of  the  body. 

The  more  immediately  the  emotion  causes  the 
outward  motion,  the  greater  the  significance  or 
expressiveness. 

This  is  what  the  smile  teaches  us  regarding  ex- 
pression. It  manifests  directly — immediately — 
the  true  understanding  of  the  nature  of  human 
life;  a  certain  sense  of  gladness  to  meet  even 
difficulties, — to  regard  the  hill  of  difficulty  before 
us  not  as  an  obstacle  but  an  opportunity;  and  a 
teachable  and  receptive  attitude  toward  life. 

The  walk  that  is  a  deep  co-ordination  of  joy 
and  expansion  expresses  courage  and  the  fact 


134  THE   SMILE 


that  at  every  moment  there  is  breathed  into  the 
man  the  breath  of  life, — that  his  creation  is  an 
eternal  act  of  an  eternal  being,  that  he  moves  for- 
ward with  confidence  and  strength. 

Human  art  must  reflect  this  intimacy  between 
cause  and  effect.  In  proportion  as  it  does  so,  will 
it  produce  the  desired  impression,  not  only  to 
entertain,  but  to  arouse  and  inspire. 

It  seems  a  most  commonplace  assertion  to  say 
that  in  all  the  arts,  man  must  find  their  central 
laws  and  principles  in  the  most  direct  of  all  modes 
of  expression. 


xvn 

THE  SMILE  AND  SUCCESS 

This  is  the  age  for  books  on  success.  Every- 
body has  to  get  off  some  kind  of  lecture  on  effi- 
ciency or  write  a  work  on  salesmanship.  By  ac- 
cident I  made  an  investigation  of  one  of  the  most 
illustrious  schools  of  salesmanship  in  the  country. 
I  saw  advertised  a  little  book  which  I  wished, 
and  as  I  looked  up  and  saw  the  sign  in  a  large 
city  I  thought  I  would  go  in  and  purchase  it.  I 
was  also  a  little  curious  at  the  moment  to  see 
what  the  institution  was  like,  and  to  have  a 
practical  example  of  their  marvellous  theories. 

I  entered  the  door  and  was  met  by  a  handsome 
attendant ;  I  asked  for  the  book,  or  if  she  could  tell 
me  in  what  department  I  might  find  it.  The  at- 
tendant did  not  know  of  any  such  department,  but 
talked  about  the  greatness  of  the  institution,  and 
called  a  gentleman  to  whom  I  repeated  my  simple 
request.  He  told  me  about  their  methods  of 
teaching  salesmanship  and  of  the  great  work  they 
were  doing  for  people.  To  them  I  was  only  an 
applicant — a  supposed  victim.  I  tried  to  disabuse 
his  mind  by  telling  him  I  simply  called  to  purchase 
a  book,  but  he  turned  me  over  to  another  gentle- 
man who  began  a  similar  talk  about  the  institution 
and  the  efficiency  of  their  methods  of  teaching 
salesmanship.  For  the  third  time  I  stated  my 
errand,  and  he  turned  from  me  a  little  disgusted 
and  called  another  gentleman  who  came  up  and 
started  to  give  me  another  lecture  on  the  sub- 

135 


136  THE   SMILE 


ject  of  efficiency.  A  little  impatiently  I  inquired 
whether  they  had  the  book  that  was  advertised. 
He  looked  at  me  in  disgust,  and  I  was  about  to 
pass  out,  when  a  young  clerk  arose  in  a  very  simple 
manner  and  said  he  would  try  to  find  the  book. 
He  returned  in  a  few  moments  with  it,  and  I 
went  out  a  sadder  but  a  wiser  man. 

With  the  exception  of  the  humbler  clerk — a 
stenographer  or  typewriter  or  bookkeeper — it  was 
really  the  worst  example  of  salesmanship  that  I 
ever  saw,  and  I  have  seen  some  pretty  bad  ex- 
amples in  different  cities  of  the  world. 

What  is  the  real  secret  of  salesmanship?  It  is 
no  affected  grin,  no  artificial  or  affected  manner. 
It  is  no  tremendous  theories.  It  is  a  readiness  to 
serve,  simple  attention  and  listening  to  what  the 
other  says,  sympathetically  endeavoring  to  give 
the  person  what  he  wishes.  If  we  realize  that, 
we  can  give  him  the  information  that  he  seeks. 
It  is  a  question  of  coming  into  sympathetic  touch 
with  other  men.  The  whole  secret  of  it  is  found 
in  the  simplicity,  sincerity  and  genuineness  of 
the  human  smile. 

If  anyone  can  be  taught  to  come  into  sym- 
pathetic touch  with  his  fellow-men,  and  be  able  to 
think  with  them,  to  offer  his  services  and  listen  to 
what  another  has  to  say,  if  he  can  be  taught  to 
smile  genuinely,  sincerely  and  naturally,  he  will 
get  more  of  a  key  to  salesmanship  than  all  these 
profound  courses  and  exaggerated  theories  can 
give.  In  our  day  we  have  so  overworked  the  word 
"  efficiency  "  that  some  people  say  they  wish  they 
might  never  hear  it  again. 

The  one  secret  of  success  is  simplicity.  Not  a 
conventional  smile,  one  that  has  lost  its  meaning, 
but  one  resulting  from  a  sincere  desire  to  serve. 


THE  SMILE  AND   SUCCESS 137 

The  great  thing  that  makes  us  successful  in 
life  is  the  same  thing  that  makes  us  happy.  That 
which  develops  the  sympathetic  side  of  our  char- 
acter will  transform  the  smile  into  a  bearing. 
Only  this  morning  I  stepped  into  an  electric  car  to 
go  down  town.  There  was  no  one  in  it  but  the 
conductor,  and  I  made  a  remark  to  him  about  the 
weather.  It  was  a  very  commonplace  remark, 
certainly  it  gave  no  information,  and  had  the  same 
shallowness  of  all  such  remarks  about  the  weather. 
But  I  was  glad,  for  my  good  friend  looked  at  me 
with  a  sympathetic  smile  and  said,  "  Yes,  we  can 
hardly  expect  July  weather  this  time  of  year.  I 
don't  see  any  mosquitoes  flying  around." 

That  hearty  remark  and  smile  made  me  happier 
all  the  day. 

Really,  something  may  be  said  for  people's  talk- 
ing about  the  weather.  If  it  breaks  the  ice  of 
modern  conventionality,  it  may  be  a  good  thing. 

Certainly  the  simple  greetings  between  neigh- 
bors do  not  deserve  the  sarcasm  which  is  usually 
poured  out  upon  the  common-placisms  about  the 
weather. 

Simple  as  a  smile  is,  it  reveals  some  of  the 
deepest  feelings  of  the  human  heart.  A  smile  is 
a  recognition  of  our  own  individuality,  a  joyous 
realization  of  our  identity ;  it  manifests  the  attitude 
of  our  being  toward  our  fellow-men,  toward  life 
and  all  things.  It  means  sympathy,  love,  joy, 
fellowship,  willingness  to  receive  as  well  as  willing- 
ness to  give  that  which  is  good. 


XVIII 
HIGHER  FUNCTIONS  AND  INFLUENCES 

So  intertwined  is  the  human  smile  with  human 
endeavor,  human  character,  that  almost  innu- 
merable are  the  points  which  might  be  narrated, 
upon  which  a  study  of  the  smile  throws  light. 

Think  what  a  right  understanding  of  the  point 
of  view  means  in  the  elevation  of  the  race.  What 
a  great  gain  it  would  be  if  we  could  appreciate  the 
point  of  view  of  the  Oriental.  This  is  the  one 
thing  to  which  man  must  come  and  he  must  come 
to  it  through  the  appreciation  of  human  art,  of 
human  poetry  and  the  study  of  the  depths  of  hu- 
man experience  as  revealed  in  expression.  Then 
the  races  may  so  understand  each  other  and  enter 
into  so  much  sympathy  that  the  Federation  of  the 
World  will  be  realized  and  universal  peace  will 
come. 

Americans  have  boasted  greatly  of  being  able 
to  enter  into  sympathetic  touch  with  all  the  world. 
It  was  an  American  admiral  who  sailed  in  and 
brought  the  Japanese  into  touch  with  the  modern 
world.  But  the  Japanese  brought  something 
which  the  whole  civilized  world  should  properly 
prize.  Only  a  few  have  devoted  themselves  in- 
tensely to  the  understanding  of  their  great  art; 
their  subtle  poetry,  and  the  depth  and  intensity 
of  their  character. 

One  of  my  most  honored  classmates,  nearly 
forty  years  ago,  was  a  Japanese  gentleman,  who 

138 


FUNCTIONS   AND   INFLUENCES         139 

has  done  great  service  to  his  country,  and  is  now 
a  most  prominent  member  of  the  House  of  Lords. 
He  wrote  in  my  notebook  once  this  beautiful  little 
poem: 

"  Four  seas,  all  brothers." 

"  Only  four  words,"  you  say.  "  Can  you  call  a 
single  line  a  poem?  "  someone  asks.  Yes,  it  is  a 
poem  complete,  and  one  who  will  pause  and  really 
think  may  get  the  Japanese  point  of  view  and 
realize  how  great  a  poem  it  is,  its  shortness  adding 
not  only  to  its  sublimity  but  to  the  depth  of  its 
meaning  and  the  impression  it  produces  upon  us. 

The  four  seas  around  Japan  broaden  out  into 
one  great  ocean.  So  he,  an  Oriental,  and  I  an 
Occidental,  different  in  training  and  temperament, 
down  deep  in  our  hearts  were  brothers.  So  all 
nations,  though  seemingly  so  different  and  nar- 
rowed into  such  different  channels,  yet  as  we 
penetrate  into  the  depths  of  their  hearts,  all  are 
brothers. 

I  have  listened  to  lectures  on  Japanese  art 
which  totally  failed  to  realize  the  first  step  toward 
its  appreciation. 

A  great  art  critic  once  wrote :  "  No  one  can  do  a 
man  a  greater  service  than  to  give  him  a  new 
point  of  view."  This  is  true  not  only  in  art  but  in 
life,  not  only  of  individuals  but  of  nations. 

There  have  been  smiles  that  have  gone  over  a 
whole  nation.  There  have  been  frowns  that  have 
been  caught  up  by  a  whole  race.  Alas,  who  can 
measure  race  prejudice,  its  depth  and  degrada- 
tion, or  realize  its  cost  and  unhappiness. 

A  war  between  mighty  nations,  a  war  of  long 
years  costing  billions  of  dollars  and  destroying 
millions  of  lives,  may  hang  upon  a  smile  or  a  frown ! 


140  THESMILE 


The  narrow  smile  of  selfishness  and  egotism, 
of  self-satisfaction,  of  pleasure  at  other's  pain, 
these  are  passing  away.  The  time  is  coming,  if  it 
is  not  already  here,  when  a  smile  can  be  felt  over 
the  whole  world,  snared  in  by  all  peoples,  nations, 
tongues  and  languages. 

There  have  been  periods  in  the  history  of  the 
Christian  religion  which  made  a  virtue  of  sadness 
and  gloom.  One  great  unbeliever,  who  studied 
deep  into  the  whole  history  of  Christianity,  de- 
fined it  as  the  "  worship  of  sorrow." 

He  was  far  away  from  the  truth.  Even  of  the 
Master  it  was  said,  "  Who  for  the  joy  that  was 
set  before  you  endured  the  cross."  It  is  the  glory 
of  the  religion  that  it  brings  joy  out  of  sorrow.  It 
is  victory  over  sorrow.  It  is  a  method  of  destroy- 
ing the  cause  of  sorrow.  Has  anyone  ever  counted 
the  references  to  joy  in  the  New  Testament? 

At  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  as  the  eyes  of  the 
Master  were  lifted  in  prayer,  what  did  He  say? 
"I  thank  Thee." 

How  often  are  men  taught  to  pray  "  with  thanks- 
giving." "  Rejoice  ever  more,  pray  without  ceas- 
ing." Men  speak  continually  on  the  importance 
of  the  last  half  of  this  verse.  Why  forget  the  first? 
Thanksgiving  and  joy  open  the  human  heart;  by 
them  higher  things  enter  into  the  human  being. 

Joy  is  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  universe. 
Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  joy  is  the  most  serious 
and  lasting  of  all  emotions  unless  it  be  love. 

The  smile  is  the  sign  of  faith.  But  what  is  faith? 
There  are  three  views  regarding  it.  To  some  faith 
is  simply  belief.  This  is  the  lowest  possible  ele- 
ment of  faith.  A  man  may  believe  all  kinds  of 
lies  and  falsehoods.  One  may  receive  a  telegram 
that  his  father  is  dead,  and  have  all  the  agony  be- 


FUNCTIONS   AND   INFLUENCES         141 

cause  he  believes  the  message.  Another  telegram 
comes  telling  him  that  it  is  a  mistake,  the  house 
was  burned  but  his  father  was  not  in  the  room 
where  they  thought  he  was,  and  he  was  safe. 

He  who  believes  that  faith  is  trying  to  make 
oneself  believe  a  thing  whether  it  be  true  or  not 
destroys  more  faith  than  he  can  ever  awaken. 

Some  go  further  and  say  that  faith  is  under- 
standing, that  all  belief  is  bad,  necessarily  bad, 
no  matter  whether  it  is  belief  in  good  or  in  bad. 
True  faith  must  have  a  rational  basis,  and  can 
result  only  from  a  definite  and  true  understanding 
of  principle. 

Still  others  hold  that  the  primary  element  of 
faith  is  trust,  others,  a  matter  of  instinct.  A  little 
child  takes  its  mother's  hand  and  feels  courage  and 
confidence.  Faith,  to  such  persons,  is  a  kind  of 
intuition,  a  yielding  of  self  to  something  they  feel 
to  be  greater  than  themselves. 

Still  another  may  think  that  the  highest  element 
of  faith  is  synonymous  with  loyalty, — a  certain 
loyalty  to  creed,  a  loyal  acceptance  of  the  plans 
of  our  human  nature,  the  plans  of  the  whole  world, 
the  plan  of  the  powers  that  are  above  us.  This 
loyalty  implies  a  determination  to  make  a  heroic 
realization,  an  acceptance  of  difficulties,  not  a 
whining  search  for  something  easier,  not  an 
antagonistic  resistance  to  what  we  feel  is  not  good. 

All  of  these  contain  elements  of  faith.  Belief 
is  merely  instinctive;  it  is  hardly  worthy  of  faith 
until  it  rises  to  understanding.  After  a  man  under- 
stands, then  he  must  trust ;  he  must  say,  "  Not  my 
will  but  Thine  " ;  may  that  be  done  which  is  better 
and  higher.  I  will  accept  that  which  is  true  at  all 
hazards. 

Again,  the  element  of  loyalty  is  a  necessary 


142  THE  SMILE 


part  of  faith.  If  we  are  not  loyal  to  our  convic- 
tions, loyal  to  that  which  we  accept,  we  are  weak. 
We  are  lacking  in  faith  and  power. 

Faith  may  go  so  far  that  there  is  a  loyal  accept- 
ance of  life  and  its  greatest  battles. 

"  He  that  doeth  the  will  shall  know  the  doc- 
trine." That  is,  he  who  loyally  accepts  what  he 
feels  his  duty  and  proceeds  to  give  himself  for 
truth  in  loyal  devotion  to  the  weak,  in  loyal  sacri- 
fice for  the  liberty  and  the  good  of  his  fellow-man, 
such  a  man  can  smile  and  will  rise  into  an  under- 
standing of  the  inner  mystic  spirit  of  the  uni- 
verse. 

The  smile  shows  the  universal  presence  of 
cheerfulness  and  its  necessity  to  human  nature. 
Without  cheerfulness,  what  human  success  is 
possible?  How  can  human  character  ever  be  un- 
folded and  built  up? 

The  smile  is  the  basis  of  all  expression  of  the 
human  face,  and  the  face  is  the  highest  unfold- 
ment  of  an  organism.  If  we  study  all  expression 
of  man  and  animals,  the  human  face  and  its  smile 
is  the  climax. 

Let  us,  therefore,  learn  a  practical,  every-day 
lesson  for  all  success  in  life  from  our  observation 
of  the  smile,  and  cry  out  as  our  perpetual  expres- 
sion with  Carlyle: 

"  Give  us,  O  give  us,  the  man  who  sings  at  his 
work!  He  will  do  more  in  the  same  time, — he 
will  do  it  better, — he  will  persevere  longer.  One 
is  scarcely  sensible  of  fatigue  whilst  he  marches 
to  music.  The  very  stars  are  said  to  make  har- 
mony as  they  revolve  in  their  spheres.  Wondrous 
is  the  strength  of  cheerfulness,  altogether  past 
calculation  its  powers  of  endurance.  Efforts,  to 
be  permanently  useful,  must  be  uniformly  joyous, 


FUNCTIONS  AND   INFLUENCES         143 

a  spirit  all  sunshine,  graceful  from  very  gladness, 
beautiful  because  bright." 

The  spirit  of  our  time  is  shown  by  our  prophets 
and  poets.  The  work  of  these  has  become  more 
and  more  joyous  during  the  last  few  years.  More 
and  more  do  men  feel  that  the  smile  indicates  the 
ultimate  victory  of  truth  and  right,  of  law  and 
liberty.  Among  all  our  prophets  of  better  things 
no  truer  or  more  hopeful  interpreter  can  be  found 
than  Edwin  Markham.  Joy  fills  all  of  his  works. 
How  we  are  thrilled  by  these  lines  from  "  The 
Song  of  the  Followers  of  Pan." 

"Our  bursting  bugles  blow  apart 

The  gates  of  the  cities  as  we  go; 
We  bring  the  music  of  the  heart 
From  secret  wells  in  Lillimo. 

"We  break  in  music  on  the  moms — 

Sing  of  the  flower  to  stirring  roots; 
Apollo's  cry  is  in  the  horns, 

And  Hermes'  whisper  in  the  flutes." 

We  feel  his  spirit  in  the  very  subjects  of  his 
poems.  Notice  especially  the  title  of  his  last 
book,  "The  Shoes  of  Happiness."  The  "Joy 
of  the  Morning  "  is  as  simple  and  sincere  as  the 
voices  of  childhood. 

"I  hear  you,  little  bird, 
Shouting  a-swing  above  the  broken  wall. 
Shout  louder  yet,  no  song  can  tell  it  all. 
Sing  to  my  soul  in  the  deep,  still  wood : 
'Tis  wonderful  beyond  the  wildest  word : 
I'd  tell  it  too  if  I  could." 

Clinton  Scollard,  another  poet,  who  has  cheered 
a  generation  with  joy  and  hope,  has  expressed 
the  significance  of  his  own  work  and  the  spirit 
of  all  song  in  "  The  Prolog  "  to  the  recently  pub- 


144  THESMILE 


lished  collection  of  his  poems.  He  has  given  the 
lesson  in  such  a  beautiful  and  artistic  form  that 
it  will  go  home  to  every  heart : 

"I  spoke  a  traveler  on  the  road 
Who  smiled  beneath  his  leaden  load, 

*  How  play  you  such  a  blithesome  part? ' 

*  Comrade,  I  bear  a  singing  heart ! ' 

"I  questioned  one  whose  path  with  pain 
In  the  grim  shadows  long  had  lain, 

*  How  face  you  thus  life's  thorny  smart? f 
'  Comrade,  I  bear  a  singing  heart ! ' 

"I  hailed  one  whom  adversity 
Could  not  make  bend  the  hardy  knee, 
'  How  such  brave  seeming?    Tell  the  art ! ' 
'  Comrade,  I  bear  a  singing  heart ! ' 

"Friend,  blest  be  thou  if  thou  canst  say 
Upon  the  inevitable  way 
Whereon  we  fare,  sans  guide  or  chart— 
'  Comrade,  I  bear  a  singing  heart ! ' ' 

If  someone  sneers  at  you,  smile.  If  you  are 
taunted  do  not  answer.  If  you  are  reviled,  "  revile 
not  again."  It  requires  high  moral  courage  to 
keep  still,  to  carry  a  smile  upon  the  face,  but  you 
"  are  doing  a  great  work  and  cannot  come  down." 
The  downward  road  is  always  broad  and  easy; 
the  upward  road  is  straight  and  narrow. 

If  someone  wishes  to  throw  mud,  say  to  him :  "  I 
have  built  a  bridge  across  all  that  muddy  swamp. 
I  could  easily  come  down  and  wield  a  shovel.  I 
think  I  could  cover  you  up.  But  I  am  using  my 
mud  for  a  different  purpose.  Look  at  the  lilies 
growing  out  of  that  muddy  swamp.  The  more 
mud  at  the  bottom — if  it  is  only  at  the  bottom — 
the  stronger  and  more  beautiful  the  lilies.  If  you 
throw  your  mud  you  are  but  exhausting  your  own 


FUNCTIONS  AND   INFLUENCES         145 

soil,  destroying  your  own  lilies.  I  mean  to  keep 
the  mud  where  it  belongs  and  watch  my  lilies 
bloom." 

Whatever  misfortune  may  seem  to  come  to  you, 
smile  on.  If  some  great  danger  seems  to  come  up 
before  you,  meet  it  with  a  smile.  A  smile  is  the 
truest  road  to  victory. 

"Smile,  once  in  a  while, 

'Twill  make  your  heart  seem  lighter, 
Smile,  once  in  a  while, 

Twill  make  your  pathway  brighter. 

"Life's  a  mirror,  if  we  smile, 

Smiles  come  back  to  greet  us; 
If  we're  frowning  all  the  while 
Frowns  forever  meet  us." 

Nixon  Waterman. 


A  PERSONAL  AFTERWORD 

All  men  have  ideal  aspirations ;  they  really  long 
to  improve  their  health,  to  understand  themselves 
better,  to  increase  their  efficiency,  their  satisfac- 
tions and  successes. 

"  The  Smile  "  and  "  How  to  Add  Ten  Years  to 
Your  Life  "  are  intended  as  helps  to  initiate  some 
simple  practical  studies  and  exercises  such  as  will 
aid  all  to  realize  their  highest  possibilities. 

Everyone  in  whom  these  books  awaken  any 
response  will,  it  is  hoped,  feel  himself  or  herself 
a  member  of  a  mystic  brotherhood  with  those 
who  are  endeavoring  to  double  the  joys  and  the 
helpfulness  of  life.  Those  who  wish  to  do  so  are 
invited  to  be  enrolled  as  members  of  the  Morning 
League. 

Each  member  of  the  League  is  expected  on 
awakening  in  the  morning  to  put  out  of  his  mind 
any  negative  thought  and  to  turn  his  attention  to 
something  which  lies  in  the  direction  of  his  ideals ; 
to  something  that  will  ennoble  him  and  purify  his 
consciousness,  and  to  spend  from  ten  to  twenty 
minutes  on  some  simple  exercises.  And,  also, 
to  spend  a  similar  amount  of  time  in  a  similar 
way  on  retiring  at  night. 

By  properly  using  these  sacred  minutes  of  life 
which  are  usually  devoted  to  negative  thoughts, 
worry,  or  discouragement,  astonishing  results  have 
already  been  secured.  Health,  strength,  grace, 
ease  of  bearing,  use  of  the  voice,  cheerfulness, 
interest  in  life  in  all  its  phases,  have  been  greatly 
improved. 

146 


A  PERSONAL  AFTERWORD U7 

The  suggestions  are  no  experiment.  The  prin- 
ciples have  been  demonstrated  again  and  again, 
not  only  at  the  School  of  Expression,  but  through 
all  the  ages. 

Many  who  have  never  attended  the  School  of 
Expression  have  expressed  a  desire  for  the  results 
which  they  have  seen  accomplished  in  the  stu- 
dents of  the  School.  This  League  has  been  or- 
ganized and  these  books  written  to  carry  some 
simple  exercises  into  the  home  and  to  the  bedside 
of  everyone,  to  bring  the  work  and  the  spirit  of 
the  School  to  all. 

Every  method  of  training,  in  fact,  every  educa- 
tional institution  must  be  tested  by  direct  applica- 
tion to  everyday  life.  I  have  often  said  that  the 
School  of  Expression  is  a  state  of  mind  rather 
than  a  place.  This  has  been  taken  as  a  joke,  but 
it  was  serious. 

The  endowment  of  the  School  of  Expression 
which  has  been  contributed  by  Sir  Henry  Irving 
and  Prof.  Alexander  Melville  Bell  and  others,  is 
small.  Our  humble  rooms,  much  as  we  love 
them,  are  inadequate.  Anyone  who  looks  at  these 
as  the  institution  makes  a  great  mistake. 

The  greatest  endowment  of  the  School  of  Ex- 
pression can  never  be  localized;  few  can  realize 
it.  It  is  the  loyalty,  the  fidelity  to  principles  of 
those  it  has  trained.  The  great  work  in  life  that 
these  are  doing,  its  methods,  its  exercises,  and 
the  use  of  these  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  the  help 
it  has  given  and  is  giving  is,  in  reality,  its  endow- 
ment. 

These  books  have  been  written  and  presented 
to  the  School, — not  merely  to  the  Trustees,  or  to 
the  Executive  Committee,  nor  even  to  the  gradu- 
ates, but  to  all  who  have  in  any  way  shared  in 


148 A  PERSONAL  AFTERWORD 

what  the  School  of  Expression  embodies.  While 
these  books  have  been  written  to  increase  the 
endowment,  to  erect  a  more  adequate  home, — a 
higher  purpose  is  to  increase  the  number  of  its 
friends,  to  widen  the  interest  in  its  function  in 
education  and  to  allow  all  to  share  in  the  bene- 
ficial effects  of  its  methods  of  training. 

Last  year  someone  went  through  the  records  to 
find  out  how  many  had  been  taught  during  one 
year  and  where  they  came  from.  It  was  found  that 
three  hundred  and  fifteen  had  been  taught  and 
these  came  from  forty-three  states  and  six  prov- 
inces of  Canada,  and  from  two  foreign  countries. 
Perhaps  no  institution  of  its  size  reaches  such  a 
widely  extended  territory.  The  influence  of  the 
School  is  not  small.  It  is  a  richly  endowed  in- 
stitution if  we  take  endowment  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  interest  awakened  in  its  work. 

The  aims  of  these  books  may  be  intimated  as, 
first,  an  endeavor  to  reach  all  those  who  have 
been  trained  and  inspire  them  to  go  forward,  to 
continue  faithful  to  their  principles  and  their  own 
work  of  self-development;  to  bring  all  these  into 
a  greater  unity  of  endeavor;  to  make  themselves 
feel  a  part  of  the  little  institution;  to  give  them 
something  that  they  can  do,  not  only  for  the  good 
of  the  institution,  but  of  themselves  and  of  the 
world;  to  reach  those  who  know  something  of  its 
work  and  give  them  the  privilege  of  sharing  in  the 
benefits  of  the  institution;  and,  last  of  all,  to  se- 
cure permanency,  a  more  adequate  home,  and  a 
larger  endowment  for  this  school  which  is  con- 
sidered the  head-quarters  for  the  advancement  of 
an  important  department  of  education. 

We  have  before  us  as  a  kind  of  objective  motto 
—"$100,000  from  100,000  people."  But  we  do 


A  PERSONAL  AFTERWORD 149 

not  ask  this  as  a  gift.  We  propose  to  give  every- 
one who  joins  our  League  more  than  the  worth 
of  their  money. 

The  price  of  the  books,  for  example,  is  lower 
than  is  usually  charged  for  such  books.  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  by  the  number  sold  we  may 
add  something  from  the  net  returns  to  the  en- 
dowment fund.  Some  of  us  hold  before  us,  also, 
a  picture  of  a  row  of  pennies  one  step  apart  ex- 
tending from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  from 
Hudson's  Bay  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  as  a  kind  of 
mark  for  the  little  school  which  some  regard  as 
too  small  to  write  its  name. 

You,  Reader,  are  invited  to  share  in  our  en- 
deavors. The  money  is  not  the  main  thing.  We 
are  endeavoring  to  improve  voices,  grace  and  ease 
of  the  body,  flexibility  of  the  mind,  dramatic  in- 
sight into  the  motives  of  one's  fellow-men,  and 
the  stimulation  of  all  those  powers  concerned  in 
the  sympathetic  participation  in  the  life  of  all  the 
members  of  our  race  which  bring  greater  satisfac- 
tion and  success.  Keep,  therefore,  the  money 
part  in  the  background,  and  endeavor  to  begin 
efforts  to  realize  your  own  higher  ideals  and  to 
awaken  others  at  the  same  time  to  recognize  the 
necessity  of  organization,  of  higher  unity,  of  an 
objective  embodiment  of  our  ideals  in  a  building, 
an  endowed  institution  that  will  stand  for  a  pe- 
culiar and  unique  work  which  has  come  to  us  and 
is  for  the  good  of  mankind. 

If  you  wish  to  join  the  Morning  League  send  the 
names  of  at  least  ten  persons  who  need  the  work, 
or  who  will  enjoy  being  members  of  such  a  band, 
or  who  are  interested  in  any  way  in  our  endeavors. 
Write  me  for  information,  and,  if  you  wish,  send 
the  price  of  one  or  more  of  the  books.  Address 


160 A  PERSONAL  AFTERWORD 

Office  of  Morning  League,  Room  301,  Pierce 
Building,  Copley  Square,  Boston. 

The  League  invites  you  not  only  to  become  a 
member  but  a  leader.  A  member  is  one  who 
works  especially  for  self -improvement ;  a  leader 
is  one  who  wishes  also  to  share  actively  in  extend- 
ing the  influence  of  the  League  and  in  doing  some 
special  work  to  carry  out  its  aims. 

"  The  Smile  "  will  be  ready  August  16.  "  How 
to  Add  Ten  Years  to  Your  Life,"  August  25.  Each 
of  these  books  will  be  75c. 

"  Browning  and  the  Dramatic  Monologue  "  and 
"Spoken  English"  are  both  $1.10  to  members 
of  the  League. 

Write  to  me  or  to  the  School  of  Expression, 
Morning  League,  301  Pierce  Building,  Copley 
Square,  Boston,  Mass. 


The  Morning  League  of  the  School  of  Expression 

is  a  band  of  the  students,  graduates  and  friends  of  the  School 
of  Expression  who  are  trying  to  keep  their  faces  toward  the 
morning. 

If  you  wish  to  join,  when  you  wake  GET  UP  OUT  OF  THE 
RIGHT  SIDE  OF  THE  BED,  that  is,  stretch,  expand,  breathe 
deeply  and  laugh.  Fill  with  joyous  thoughts  and  their  active 
expressions  the  first  minutes  of  the  day. 

Note  the  effect,  and  consider  yourself  initiated. 

Try  as  far  as  possible  EVERY  DAY  to  realize  the  League's 

UNFOLDMENT  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  SMILE  whenever  tempted  to  frown;  look  for  and  enjoy  the  best  around 
you. 

2.  THINK,  feel  or  realize  something  in  the  direction  of  your  ideals  and, 
in  some  way,  unite  your  ideals  with  your  everyday  work  and  play. 

3.  SEE,  hear  or  read,  i.  e.,  receive  an  impression  from  something  beautiful 
in  nature,  art,  music,  poetry,  literature  or  the  lives  of  your  fellowmen. 

4.  EXPRESS  the  best  that  is  in  you  and  awaken  others  to  express  the  best 
in  them. 

5.  SERVE  some  fellow  being  by  listening,  by  kind  look,  tone,  word  or  deed. 

6.  SHARE  in  some  of  the  great  movements  for  the  betterment  of  the  race. 
That  is,  use  your  principles  of  expression  to  help  hi  such  movements  as: 

1.  Expression  hi  Life  (text  book,  "The  Smile");  2.  Expression  and  Health 
(text  book,  "How  to  Add  Ten  Years  to  Your  Life") ;  3.  Expression  and  Educa- 
tion hi  the  Nursery;  Mothers'  Clubs;  4.  Voice  in  the  Home;  5.  Reading  hi  the 
Public  Schools;  6.  Speaking  hi  High  Schools  and  Colleges;  7.  Speaking  Clubs; 

8.  Browning  Clubs  (text  book,  "Browning  and  the  Dramatic  Monologue"); 

9.  Dramatic  Clubs;  10.  Religious  Societies;  11.  Boy  Scouts;  12.  Campfire  Girls; 
13.  Peace  Movements;   14.  Women's  Clubs;  and  Suffrage   Organizations; 
15.  Reforms;  16.  Teachers'  Clubs;  17.  School  of  Expression  Summer  Terms; 
18.  Preparation  for  the  School  of  Expression;  19.  Home  Studies;  20.  Advanced 
Steps  of  the  School  of  Expression. 

Send  your  name  and  address  with  ten  nominations  for 
members  with  $1.50  for  the  two  League  text  books,  "The 
Smile  "  and  "  How  to  Add  Ten  Years  to  Your  Life,"  and 
you  will  be  recorded  a  member.  One  set  of  books  will  do  for 
a  family,  other  books  at  teachers'  or  introductory  prices. 
There  are  no  fees.  The  entire  net  returns  from  the  League 
books  will  be  devoted  to  the  endowment  of  the  School  of 
Expression,  the  Home  of  the  League. 

Write  frankly  and  freely  asking  any  counsel,  and  making 
any  suggestions  to  the  President  of  the  League. 

Dr.  S.  S.  CURRY,  307  Pierce  Bldg. 

Copley  Square,  Boston,  Mass. 


MORNING  LEAGUE  QUESTIONS  FOR  REPORT 

Text-books—"  The  Smile  "  and  "  How  to  Add  Ten  Years  to 
Your  Life  " 

Those  who  will  study  these  books  carefully  and  report 
the  results  of  their  practice  and  self-studies,  or  answer  any 
of  the  following  questions  will  receive  a  personal  letter  of 
advice.  It  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  the  questions.  Simply 
use  figures. 

1.  What  is  your  occupation  or  profession? 

2.  How  many  hours  a  day  do  you  work? 

3.  How  many  hours  a  day  do  you  play? 

4.  Do  you  work  and  play  regularly? 

5.  Do  you  enjoy  your  work,  that  is,  do  you  unite  the  spirit 

of  your  play  with  your  work? 

6.  What  do  you  honestly  regard  as  your  greatest  hindrance 

in  life? 

7.  Have  you  been  able  to  smile  when  tempted  to  frown? 

8.  Have  you,  with  Socrates,  controlled  some  feeling  by  ex- 

pressing the  opposite? 

9.  Can  you  look  upon  difficulties  as  opportunities? 

10.  In  the  study  of  your  own  inner  life  have  you  found  the 

"  Great  Divide  "?    See  page  38. 

11.  Do  you  know  what  it  means  to  be  "  led  by  the  spirit"? 

12.  Do  you  think  more  over  your  hopes  and  helps  than  over 

your  hindrances? 

13.  Do  you  enjoy  talking  about  your  difficulties  and  troubles? 

14.  How  far  does  the  spirit  of  the  smile  penetrate  your  life? 

15.  Does  the  smile  predominate  in  your  intercourse  with 

others? 

16.  How  many  hours  are  you  out  of  doors  each  day? 

17.  Do  you  positively  enjoy  intercourse  with  Nature? 

18.  In  what  phase  of  Nature  study  are  you  most  interested? 

19.  Do  you  take  regular  walks  and  have  direct  contact  with 

Nature? 

20.  Do  you  feel  your  courage  increase  in  meeting  difficulties? 

21.  Do  you  take  more  interest  in  the  weaknesses  or  in  the 

strong  points  of  people? 

(For  other  questions,  see  "  How  to  Add  Ten  Years  to  Your 
Life  ") 


Province  Of  Expression.     Principles  and  method 

.     of  developing  delivery. 

An  Introduction  to  the  study  of  the  natural  languages,  and 
their  relation  to  art  and  development.  By  S.  S.  Curry,  Ph.D., 
Litt.D.  $1.50;  to  teachers,  $1.20,  postpaid. 

Your  volume  is  to  me  a  very  wonderful  book,— it  is  so  deeply  philosophic, 
and  so  exhaustive  of  all  aspects  of  the  subject.  .  .  .  No  one  can  read  your 
book  without  at  least  gaining  a  high  ideal  of  the  study  of  expression.  You  have 
laid  a  deep  and  strong  foundation  for  a  scientific  system.  And  now  we  wait 
for  the  superstructure.— Professor  Alexander  Melville  Bell. 

It  is  a  most  valuable  book,  and  ought  to  be  instrumental  in  doing  much 
good.— Professor  J.  W.  Churchill,  D.D. 

A  book  of  rare  significance  and  value,  not  only  to  teachers  of  the  vocal  arts, 
but  also  to  all  students  of  fundamental  pedagogical  principle.  In  its  field  I 
know  of  no  work  presenting  in  an  equally  happy  combination  philosophic 
insight,  scientific  breadth,  moral  loftiness  of  tone,  and  literary  felicity  of  ex- 
position.— William  F.  Warren,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  Boston  University. 

Lessons  in  Vocal  Expression.   The  expressive 

_________________---_-_-—_-—-----—-     modulations  of 

the  voice  developed  by  studying  and  training  the  voice  and 
mind  in  relation  to  each  other.  Eighty-six  definite  problems 
and  progressive  steps.  By  S.  S.  Curry,  Ph.D.,  Litt.D.  $1.25; 
to  teachers,  $1.10,  postpaid. 

It  ought  to  do  away  with  the  artificial  and  mechanical  styles  of  teaching. — 
Henry  W.  Smith,  A.M.,  Professor  of  Elocution,  Princeton  University. 

Through  the  use  of  your  text-book  on  vocal  expression,  I  have  had  the  past 
term  much  better  results  and  more  manifest  interest  on  the  subject  than  ever 
before.— A.  H.  Merrill,  A.M.,  late  Professor  of  Elocution,  Vanderbilt  University. 

The  subject  is  handled  in  a  new  and  original  manner,  and  cannot  fail  to 
revolutionize  the  old  elocutionary  ideas.— Mail  and  Empire,  Toronto. 

It  is  capital,  good  sense,  and  real  instruction. — W.  E.  Huntington,  LL.D., 
Ex-President  of  Boston  University. 

Imagination  and  Dramatic  Instinct.  Fur"> 

tionof 

the  imagination  and  assimilation  in  the  vocal  interpretation 
of  literature  and  speaking.  By  S.  S.  Curry,  Litt.D.  $1.50; 
to  teachers,  $1.20,  postpaid. 

Dr.  Curry  well  calls  the  attention  of  speakers  to  the  processes  of  thinking 
in  the  modulation  of  the  voice.  Every  one  will  be  benefited  by  reading  his 
volumes.  .  .  .  Too  much  stress  can  hardly  be  laid  on  the  author's  ground 
principle,  that  where  a  method  aims  to  regulate  the  modulation  of  the  voice 
by  rules,  then  inconsistencies  and  lack  of  organic  coherence  begin  to  take  the 
place  of  that  sense  of  life  which  lies  at  the  heart  of  every  true  product  of  art. 
On  the  contrary,  where  vocal  expression  is  studied  as  a  manifestation  of  the 
processes  of  thinking,  there  results  the  truer  energy  of  the  student's  powers 
and  the  more  natural  unity  of  the  complex  elements  of  his  expression. — Dr. 
Lyman  Abbott,  in  The  Outlook. 

Address :  Book  Dept.,  School  of  Expression,  306  Pierce  Bldg., 
Copley  Square,  Boston,  Mass. 


Mind  and  Voice.  Principles  underlying  all  phases  of 
»  Vocal  Training.  The  psychological 

and  physiological  conditions  of  tone  production  and  scientific 
and  artistic  methods  of  developing  them.  A  work  of  vital 
importance  to  every  one  interested  in  improving  the  qualities 
of  the  voice  and  in  correcting  slovenly  speech.  456  pages. 
By  S.  S.  Curry,  Litt.D.  $1.50,  postpaid.  To  teachers,  $1.25, 
postpaid. 

It  is  indeed  a  masterly  and  stimulating  work. — Amos  R.  Wells,  Editor  Chris- 
tian World. 

It  is  a  book  that  will  be  of  immense  help  to  teachers  and  preachers,  and  to 
others  who  are  using  their  vocal  organs  continuously.  As  an  educational 
work  on  an  important  theme,  the  book  has  a  unique  value. — Book  News 
Monthly. 

There  is  pleasure  and  profit  in  reading  what  he  says. — Evening  Post  (Chi- 
cago). 

Fills  a  real  need  in  the  heart  and  library  of  every  true  teacher  and  student 
of  the  development  of  natural  vocal  expression. — Western  Recorder  (Louis- 
ville). 

Get  it  and  study  it  and  you  will  never  regret  it. — Christian  Union  Herald 
(Pittsburg). 

Foundation  Of  Expression.  Fundamentals   of    a 

psychological  method 

of  training  voice,  body,  and  mind  and  of  teaching  speaking  and 
reading.  236  problems;  411  choice  passages.  A  thorough 
and  practical  text-book  for  school  and  college,  and  for  private 
study.  By  S.  S.  Curry,  Litt.D.  $1.25;  to  teachers,  $1.10, 
postpaid. 

It  means  the  opening  of  a  new  door  to  me  by  the  master  of  the  garden. — 
Frank  Putnam. 

Mastery  of  the  subject  and  wealth  of  illustration  are  manifest  hi  all  your 
treatment  of  the  subject.  Should  prove  a  treasure  to  any  man  who  cares 
for  effective  public  speaking.— Professor  L.  O.  Brastow,  Yale. 

Adds  materially  to  the  author's  former  contributions  to  this  science  and  art, 
to  which  he  is  devoting  his  life  most  zealously. — Journal  of  Education. 

May  be  read  with  profit  by  all  who  love  literature. — Denis  A.  McCarthy, 
Sacred  Heart  Review. 

It  gets  at  the  heart  of  the  subject  and  is  the  most  practical  and  clearest 
book  on  the  important  steps  in  expression  that  I  have  ever  read.— Edith  W. 
Moses. 

How  splendid  it  is;  it  is  at  once  practical  in  its  simplicity  and  helpfulness 
and  inspiring.  Every  teacher  ought  to  be  grateful  for  it. — Jane  Herendeen, 
Teacher  of  Expression  in  Jamaica  Normal  School,  N.  Y . 

Best,  most  complete,  and  up-to-date. — Alfred  Jenkins  Shriver,  LL.B., 
Baltimore. 

Public  speakers  and  especially  the  young  men  and  women  in  high  schools, 
academies,  and  colleges  will  find  here  one  of  the  most  helpful  and  sug- 
gestive books  by  one  of  the  greatest  living  teachers  of  the  subject,  that 
was  ever  presented  to  the  public. — John  Marshall  Barker,  Ph.D.,  Professor 
in  Boston  University. 

Address:  Book  Dept.,  School  of  Expression,  306  Pierce  Bldg., 
Copley  Square,  Boston,  Mass. 


Browning  and  the  Dramatic  Monologue. 

Nature  and  peculiarities  of  Browning's  poetry.  How  to  un- 
derstand Browning.  The  principles  involved  in  rendering  the 
monologue.  An  introduction  to  Browning,  and  to  dramatic 
platform  art.  By  S.  S.  Curry,  Litt.D.,  $1.25;  to  teachers, 
$1.10,  postpaid. 

It  seems  to  me  to  attack  the  central  difficulty  in  understanding  and  reading 
Robert  Browning's  poetry.  ...  It  opens  a  wide  door  to  the  greatest  poetry  of 
the  modern  age. — The  Rev.  John  R.  Gow,  President  of  the  Boston  Browning 
Society. 

A  book  which  sheds  an  entirely  new  light  on  Browning  and  should  be  read 
by  every  student  of  the  great  master;  indeed,  everyone  who  would  be  well  in- 
formed should  read  this  book,  which  will  interest  any  lover  of  literature. — 
Journal  of  Education. 

Spoken  English.  A  method  of  co-ordinating  impres- 

sion    and    expression    in   reading, 

conversation,  and  speaking.  It  contains  suggestions  on  the 
importance  of  observation  and  adequate  impression,  and 
nature  study,  as  a  basis  to  adequate  expression.  The  steps 
are  carefully  arranged  for  the  awakening  of  the  imagina- 
tion and  dramatic  instinct,  right  feeling,  and  natural,  spon- 
taneous expression.  320  pages.  By  S.  S.  Curry,  Litt.D., 
Ph.D.  Price,  $1.25;  to  teachers,  $1.10,  postpaid. 

Every  page  had  something  that  caught  my  attention.  You  certainly  have 
grasped  the  great  principle  of  vocal  expression. — Edwin  Markham. 

Those  who  aim  at  excelling  in  public  utterance  and  address  may  well  possess 
themselves  of  this  work. — Journal  of  Education. 

The  specialist  in  reading  will  wish  to  add  it  to  his  book-shelf  for  permanent 
reference. — Normal  Instructor. 

A  masterly  presentation  of  ideas  and  expression  as  applied  in  a  wide  range 
of  excellent  selections.— The  World's  Chronicle. 

Little  Classics  for  Oral  English.  A  compan- 

- ion  to  Spok- 
en English.  The  problems  correspond  by  sections  with 
Spoken  English.  The  books  may  be  used  together  or  sep- 
arately. The  problems  are  arranged  in  the  form  of  ques- 
tions which  the  student  can  answer  properly  only  by  rightly 
rendering  the  passages.  It  is  a  laboratory  method  for  spoken 
English,  to  be  used  by  the  first  year  students  in  High  School 
or  the  last  years  of  the  Grammar  School.  384  pages.  By 
S.  S.  Curry,  Litt.D.  Price,  $1.25;  to  teachers,  $1.10,  postpaid. 

I  am  using  Little  Classics  for  Oral  English  in  two  classes  and  believe  it  is 
the  most  satisfactory  text  that  I  have  used.  The  students  seem  to  be  able  to 
get  easily  the  principles  from  your  questions  and  problems.— Elva  M.  Forn- 
crook,  St.  Nor.  Sch.,  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 

A  fine  collection  of  fine  things  especially  suited  to  young  people.  Every 
teacher  of  reading  and  English  in  our  secondary  schools  ought  to  have  the 
book.— Prof.  Lee  Emerson  Basse tt,  Leland  Stanford  University,  Cal. 

Address:  Book  Dept.,  School  of  Expression,  306  Pierce  Bldg., 
Copley  Square,  Boston,  Mass. 


What  Students  and  Graduates  Think 
of  the  School  of  Expression 

"We  know  that  there  is  something  BIG  here.  If  only  we  can 
get  it  out  to  the  world." — Caroline  A.  Hardwick  (Philosophic 
Diploma),  Instructor  in  Reading  and  Speaking,  Wellesley 
College. 

"At  no  other  institution  is  it  possible  to  secure  the  training 
one  secures  at  the  School  of  Expression.  It  is  far  broader 
than  a  mere  training  for  speaking.  It  is  a  fundamental  train- 
ing for  life." — Florence  E.  Lutz  (Philosophic  Diploma), 
Instructor  in  Pantomime,  New  York  City. 

"The  School  of  Expression  taught  me  how  to  LIVE.  I 
think  its  training  of  the  personality  is  its  greatest  work." — 
F.  M.  Sargent  (Dramatic  Artist's  Diploma). 

"I  feel  deeply  indebted  to  the  School  for  some  of  the  best 
and  most  lasting  inspiration  I  have  received  for  my  own  work 
as  a  teacher  of  my  fellow-men." — Luella  Clay  Carson,  Pres. 
of  Mills  College. 

"The  success  I  have  attained  in  my  profession  as  a  reader,  I 
owe  directly  to  the  advanced  methods  of  the  School  of  Ex- 
pression."— Caroline  Foye  Flanders  (Artistic  Diploma), 
Public  Reader,  Manchester,  N.  H. 

"The  School  of  Expression  of  Boston  is  the  most  thorough 
and  best  in  the  country.  It  is  different  from  all  other  schools. 
I  wish  I  could  talk  to  any  who  intend  taking  a  course  of  study. 
— I  would  say,  Go  to  the  School  of  Expression  and  if  there  is 
anything  in  you,  they  will  bring  it  out ;  they  will  teach  you  to 
know  youself ;  they  will  show  you  what  you  are  in  comparison 
with  what  you  may  become,  and  they  will  begin  with  the  cause 
and  start  from  the  bottom." — Hamilton  Colman,  Member 
Richard  Mansfield  Co. 

"When  I  was  your  student  you  held  before  me  intellectual 
and  ethical  ideals  which  I  am  still  trying  to  realize." — Charles 
L.  White,  D.D.,  Ex-President  Colby  College. 

"The  same  principles  of  education  which  have  installed 
manual  training  in  public  schools  are  even  more  applicable  to 
the  training  of  men's  souls  to  rational  self-expression.  Dr. 
Curry  will  some  day  be  recognized  to  have  been  an  educational 
philosopher  for  having  championed  principles  no  less  true  of 
the  spoken  word  than  of  every  form  of  creative  self-expres- 
sion."— Dean  Shailer  Mathews,  University  of  Chicago. 

"The  whole  world  ought  to  learn  about  the  School  of  Ex- 
pression and  your  discoveries." — Rev.  J.  Stanley  Durkee 
(Speaker's  Diploma),  Boston. 


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